After 3 days of intense competition, between ~600 beer pong players from across the globe, one team reigned supreme. Congratulations to 3-time World Beer Pong champion, Michael Popielarski, and his rookie partner, Brandon Clarke, of team “History in the Making.” Nicely done, gentlemen!

To all the competitors, Westgate staff, BPONG staff, and vendors/sponsors at this year’s World Series of Beer Pong XI, thank you for making this another great event.

Today completes Day 1 and Day 2 Prelim play at The World Series of Beer Pong XI in Las Vegas! Below are the team rankings* after two days of intense competition. The Top 160 teams will be moving on to compete on Day 3 and are still in the running for the $50,000 grand prize and bragging rights!

With just 10 days to go until The World Series of Beer Pong XI, we are going to begin previewing some of the best teams that will be in attendance at this year’s main event by highlighting who we think has a good chance at ending up within reach of the top spot!

Many still think “binge drinking party game” when they hear “beer pong.” However, over the past decade we’ve developed an extension to that root, establishing a much greater value to the game. The World Series of Beer Pong has paid out over $500,000 in prizes through its Main Event. The WSOBP side events and affiliated organization’s competitive beer pong tournaments add a significant chunk of change on top of that $500K to total a substantial sum of cash that has been awarded to “professional” beer pong players all around the world.

As The World Series of Beer Pong XI approaches (July 6-10th @ Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino) and players begin to lock in their partners for the event, there is a lot to consider. Partner selection for a large, super-competitive event like The WSOBP is key.

Preparing for your first World Series of Beer Pong tournament can be difficult; especially, if you haven’t had the pleasure of attending one of our affiliate organization’s fantastic pong events beforehand. We are going to give you all who don’t quite know what to expect a little insight on how to better strap yourself in to make the best of your experience at The World Series of Beer Pong!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. It is very hard to describe the adrenaline that will rush through your veins when you walk into a Las Vegas Ballroom filled with hundreds of beer pong tables, see thousands of beer pong players and realize you are about to play beer pong for $50,000; even having already experienced it. Therefore, trying to imagine what it will be like having never been before is nearly impossible. The environment is one like you’ve never experienced.

In any case, the first thing to always remember is that you are there to have fun! There will be teams that go 12-0 during preliminary play; there will be teams that go 0-12. Nobody thinks they are going to lose every single game walking into the tournament but if it happens to you, take it with a grain of salt and you’ll still have an amazing time.

There will be unicorns and aliens walking around Westgate Resort & Casino that you won’t be able to recognize because they will look just like everybody else in the ballroom. Though, if you feel like you may have been matched up against a pair of monsters during prelims, don’t get discouraged. You could be playing a former World Series Champion or a player who has banked 10’s of thousands of dollars playing this sport over the last decade. Focus up, play to the best of your abilities and take notes.

Don’t let these guys get in your head either! The best defense is a strong mental game and a witty mouth. If you’ve let someone trash talk their way under your skin, you’ve lost the game and more importantly, you won’t be having any fun. Appreciate their intent (trying to win the game), laugh if they say something funny, don’t take it to heart, realize that it’s all a part of the game and don’t let it affect yours!

If you are there for more than just the party and beer you should shoot for a 7-5 record during prelims and hold your breathe. 7-5 has been good enough to make the cut for the Day 3 Playoff Bracket in most years. On more rare occasions 6-6 records have made the cut, however, there have also been years when you’ve needed to have a polished 8-4 record to get in.

If you make it to Day 3:

Relax! Come ready to play, but relax. The environment is incredible and different from the first two days. Everyone wants to bring their A game, but it happens all to often that players who’ve never been there before become overwhelmed, play anxious and get upset with themselves when they don’t shoot up to their abilities.

If you advance, keep your head on your shoulders and don’t let the satisfaction of potentially surpassing your expectations dilute your focus. You never know whose day it is and it may just be yours!

Though eventually, everybody falls but 1 team. When it’s your turn to get erased from the bracket, stick around and pick someone to root for. Supporting your friends (or maybe your new friends from another country) is almost as fun as playing yourself!

If you do NOT make it to Day 3:

It’s not the end of the world. It was your first crack at it and the competition is tough! Take advantage of the many side events, sponsor activities and the one thing that none of us have yet to experience at The World Series of Beer Pong, the summertime, Vegas sun!

If you’ve enjoyed your time, get to know some people and find a place to play close to home. Elevate your game, come back next year and do it all again!

This past weekend showed the prowess of The World Series of Beer Pong™, as more than 20 players qualified themselves for The WSOBP™ Main Event by securing a tournament victory at one of the five World Series of Beer Pong™ Satellite™ Tournaments that took place around the country!

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Northwest Beer Pong:

We’ll start our recap tour in Kirkland, Washington, at Rose Hill Hideout where Northwest Beer Pong was slated to qualify a team for The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI! Participants were randomly matched against opponents for 6 preliminary games that would be used to seed teams into a double-elimination playoff bracket.

Former World Series of Beer Pong Champion, Matt White, teamed up with Brad “Moose” Mosdell and paid tribute to Chris Cash, a close friend of Matt’s that had recently passed away, by playing under the team name: “Cash Money’s Final Hand.” It’s to no surprise that a World Champion’s tournament dedication to a fallen friend would end in victory. White and Mosdell pulled through to claim the 1st place prize of qualified entry into The World Series of Beer Pong™ XI, complete with 4-night accommodations at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Thomas Hoistad and Chris Sherwood were beat out on the final table, after fighting their way through nearly 20 teams, but didn’t exactly go home empty handed. Chris and Thomas pocketed a quick $200 for their efforts.

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SoCal’s BidFEST:

Next, we head a bit south and pick up on a ton of action at Johnny V’s in sunny San Diego. Ocean Grown Pong filled up the entire weekend with tournaments and handed out 14 individual bids (bid = qualified entry into The WSOBP™ & Hotel accommodations) via 8 different World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournaments! That’s over $5000 worth of prizes that OGP gave out at The 2nd Annual SoCal WSOBP™ BidFEST!

Friday’s event consisted of a Men’s and Women’s Singles (1v1) tournament, as well as, a 2v2 double-elimination tournament. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Women’s Singles Champion, Brandi Wrathall of Nevada, took down the ladies tournament, while Nicholas Bland of California cashed in on the Men’s side of the singles tournaments. Former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Byron Findley of California, teamed up with fellow Californian, Zakary Corsi, and claimed the last seat in the winner’s circle on Friday night via a victory in the 2v2 tournament.

Saturday’s schedule had 3 different tournaments on tap that all varied in format. The first was a multi-partner tournament, meaning each player participated with a different partner in two separate brackets with the winners of each bracket meeting in a best 2-out-of-3 final series. Ryan Smith and Scott Muller, both of California, came out on top of the multi-partner tournament. The 2nd of the trio of Saturday tournaments was a Co-ed tournament. Each team had to consist of 1 male and 1 female player. Ryan Smith collected his 2nd victory of the evening, as Charlie De Hoop, also of California, stamped her ticket into The WSOBP™ Main Event. Finishing off a day full of pong was a change of pace for most, as “House Rules” were implemented into a competitive tournament. David Diaz and Justin Herman, both of California, claimed the bid, elbows and all!

Sunday kicked-off the final day of BidFEST with another multi-partner tournament and finished with a tourney where an element of surprise was thrown into the mix as players were NOT allowed to pick their own partner! Each team was paired by randomly drawing names from the participant pool to complete teams. David Diaz finished the weekend and collected multiple wins, as he and Ethan Wald finished atop the field in the multi-partner tournament. Ethan Wald also walked away with multiple wins on the weekend as he doubled-up on Sunday and won the Random Tournament alongside Mark Pimentel.

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Texas Beer Pong Tour:

Continuing to the south on our recap tour, we pull into Old School Bar and Grill in Austin, Texas, where The Texas Beer Pong Tour awarded multiple players with WSOBP™ bids and cold hard cash!

3v3 was the name of the game in Texas! During 3v3 play, each team has 3 players per side and sets up an extra 5 cups. (15 cups in total.) 3 balls are shot per-side! Roland Ortiz, Adrian Damasco, and Mando Roman filled out the roster that took home the WSOBP™ XI Bids.

Texas also got a little tricky and mixed in a Random draw tournament of their own, which rewarded Robert Williamson with his qualified entry into The WSOBP™ Main Event. His partner Rob Dix cashed in on a $300 cash prize for his share of the random draw prize, as his ticket to the big show in Vegas was written long ago. Dix also picked up an additional win with his partner James Alanis while playing for qualified entry into The Spring Classic!

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Chicago’s HOME Satellite:

Just a “few” miles to the northeast, The Chicago House of Music & Entertainment was rocking with nearly 100 players from 11 different states, who partook in a Quad-Bracket World Series of Beer Pong™ XI Satellite Tournament.

Each player was allowed 1 entry into 4 individual single elimination brackets. Each player had to play with a different partner in each of those 4 brackets. The winners of each individual bracket met in a best 2-out-of-3 semi-finals series. The winners of the semi-finals squared off in a best 2-out-of-3 final series.

Brendan Dyelle of Rochester, Michigan, picked a couple of doozy partners from St. Louis and came roaring out of 2 different brackets, placing him in both semi-final series. The first semi-finals saw Dyelle and former World Series of Beer Pong™ Champion, Ross Hampton, take down Scott Frew and Andy DeCaluwe of Illinois to advance to the finals.

Dyelle prevailed again in the second semi-final bracket with Brent Saale beating out Johnny Fourdyce of Illinois and his partner Michael “Sunshine” Kloiber of Kentucky, to advance both of his teams to the final series. Wait what? (This means, Brendan Dyelle had already won the entire tournament without even having to play in the final series.) Dyelle kicked back and watched his two partners play 1v1 to decide who’d share his first place prize with him and who’d take a share of 2nd. Ross Hampton trumped Brent Saale 2-0 in the final series to claim his share of 1st place.

Dyelle took home a bid to The WSOBP™ and $375 cash. Hampton banked his 2nd bid of the season and $250 in cash. Saale walked away with $125 for his efforts.

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Michigan Satellite:

Last but not least, we make one more stop and travel even further north to Bay Lanes Bowling and Banquet Center in Bay City, Michigan, where Boozin’ Bob decided 3 days before the big weekend that he wanted to be apart of all the fun!

It’s risky business putting so much up for grabs with such little time for players to secure partners and make plans to play but Boozin’ Bob made it happen! He saw an opportunity with some of the best players in the state making the trip down to Chicago to open up the field for non-bid winners to finally scratch their names into the reservation book at The WSOBP™ for the first time, and he capitalized on that opportunity.

The format varied from all the others over the weekend. It was a double-bracket tournament; however, players were only allowed to pick their partners for one of them. The other side of the bracket was random draw. Brandon Juracek, better known as “Homeless” and his partner Clarence Johnson chalked up the Satellite Tournament win.

Being Johnson’s first bid win, he provided us with a quote where he unknowingly described a feeling he’ll now get around the same time every year, for the rest of his life…

“I’m hyped about Vegas! Not even gonna lie!”

Me too, Clarence. Me too.

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On behalf of BPONG™ and The World Series of Beer Pong™, we’d like to thank all the organizers who put so much time and effort into making these awesome tournaments happen! We’d also like to thank all the players who came out to play this past weekend!

If you’d like more information about The World Series of Beer Pong™, how YOU could potentially run a Satellite™ Tournament or anything BPONG™ related, please feel free to reach out to lastcup@bpong.com.

Ah, beer pong. The ubiquitous party game turned competitive sport. Complete with big-time payouts to its biggest stars! (Like $50,000 big!) Just like poker, baseball, or any other American institution, it has its own national event, The World Series of Beer Pong (The WSOBP). Whether you’ve seen it on The Jay Leno Show, ESPN or read about it in Maxim, The WSOBP is getting bigger, badder, and more exciting each year. This year, The World Series of Beer Pong has ditched the New Year’s party for some fun in the sun and will be held in the summer (July 6th-10th, 2016) for the first time ever! With July fast approaching, we’re counting down the top ten reasons to head to Vegas this July and get your balls wet at this can’t miss event!

10. Vegas

Sin City needs no introduction. With its limitless menu of strippers, call girls, all-night clubs, celebrity sightings, and general lack of standards; Vegas is not just a city, it’s an alternate reality in which the laws of the everyday world seemingly do not apply. It’s the reason why it’s completely plausible that “The Hangover” was based on a true story. It couldn’t be truer that you’ve never really partied until you’ve partied in Vegas – and things really heat up in the Summer time. What better way to party in Vegas than to party in Vegas at The World Series of Beer Pong!

Nothing says “take out your wallet” quite like a scantily-clad, cup-hungrydamsel and the businesses that sponsor The WSOBP are well aware of that fact. Suit ‘em up & send ‘em out! Or don’t suit em up, whatever works. Each year, the sponsor babes crank it up a notch and give us some eye candy we’ll never forget. We love you, ladies. Don’t dismiss all the other awesome sponsors that don’t involve boobs and always make sure to take care of all the players! From free hangover pills and party supplies to innovative new games and products that just hit the market, The World Series of Beer Pong has it all!

7. The Side Events

Even if you get eliminated from the Main Event, it doesn’t mean you have to pack your bags and go home. You can play in one of the many side events taking place alongside the Main Event and you’ll be right back in the game. Don’t have the cash to pony up for Main Event entry? No worries, there will be thousands in prize money up for grabs, and the damage to your wallet for registration is miniscule. Rumor has it that the Singles tournament is upping the stakes this year…

6. The Playing Field (A REAL World Series of Beer Pong!)

Ever seen Beerfest? Yeah, it’s kinda like that. Oh, except it’s in real life, so unless you fly intercontinental on a regular basis, you’re probably never going to play a Japanese team, an Irish team, or an Austrian team. However, at The WSOBP it’s par for the course. The World Series of Beer Pong is VERY LITERALLY A REAL WORLD SERIES! With tournaments like the European, Swiss, Australian and various other “Series of Beer Pong” tournaments sprouting up around the globe (that all have a Grand Prize of qualified entry into The WSOBP Main Event), there’s no telling where your next opponents may hail from, but there’s no doubt that the competition will be tough!

Even better than the number of people you’ll meet from places you might not have even known existed, is the friendships & relationships that are formed and last a lifetime! There’s no better feeling than spinning a globe and having a high likelihood that you’ll have a friend that is more than willing to let you crash on their couch, no matter where your finger lands. As the years pass, you’ll find yourself giddy for The WSOBP just to see all your friends from distant places! Some of our veteran players may argue that this could easily be number 1 on this list!

5. The Pros

Like the best of the best in any sport, many of beer pong’s greats need no introduction and are known by only one moniker – Ron, Pop, Kessler, Marx…

A wise man once said truth is stranger than fiction, and this has never been truer than in the world of professional beer pong. Case in point: RonHamilton. A combination of Barry Bonds, Dennis Rodman, and a charging rhinoceros all rolled into one, Ron’s nerve-rattling antics, insane hair, and legendary appetite for Cinnamon Life cereal are second only to his unquenchable thirst for cups and unsettling tendency to spam every last person on his Facebook friend list (we’re serious—don’t friend him). But with Smashing Time having unprecedented back-to-back WSOBP victories, he and his partner Mike Popielarski stand-alone in the world of beer pong.

However, the line of true characters you’ll see at The World Series of Beer Pong from the planets most accomplished pongers is not one lacking in numbers. Unlike all other professional sports; player trash talking and personalities are not only celebrated within our sport but are strategic components of the game’s top players to secure victories over other elite opponents. If you watch and listen closely, you’ll develop an appreciation for each stars unique craft.

4. The Experience

An estimated five hundred teams will be at The WSOBP this year. We’ll say that again: 500 TEAMS! They will come from almost every US State, and many will fly in from other continents. You may be the best at your local bar or fraternity, but until you’ve been to Vegas, you’re just playing in the sandlot. The WSOBP is the only place to come see where you really stand in the land of competitive beer pong. The way you look at the game will never be the same!

3. The Money

There’s not much to sell here. We pay you money to be good at beer pong. Not just a couple bucks either. The 1st place prize at The World Series of Beer Pong Main Event is $50,000!! We’ve paid out over $500,000 to our Main Event players, even more if you count our side events and millions if you count all our affiliate & satellite tournaments throughout the years! So next time someone gives you grief for playing and asks you where beer pong is going to get you in life, make sure you check them hard on the spot!

2. The Environment

Let’s face it, you likely won’t get a chance to hit a home run at Wrigley Field or make a game winning basket at Madison Square Garden, but you stand a good chance of sinking a clutch shot at The World Series of Beer Pong! Feeling the adrenaline rush of a professional athlete during performance is so much greater than any buzz a beer could possibly give you. It’s impossible to ignore the endorphins rushing through your veins from the second you step foot in the ballroom. You feel the bass from the music flutter your heartbeat. You hear the chatter of a huge crowd. You see thousands of people and hundreds of tables set up. There is anxiousness, tension and excitement lingering in the air. YOU are in the SAME FIELD as the BEST players in the WORLD and the fact of the matter is that everyone starts square. Even. 0-0. Equal opportunity. YOU are just 12 prelim games away from being considered one of those players. YOU are 3 days away from walking away with $50,000 and a legitimate World Championship to call your own!

1. Potential Immortality

“If you win The World Series of Beer Pong, they can never take that away from you.”

We’re not sure exactly what shadowy, underground cabal The Iceman was referring to when he spoke of “they,” but you get the idea. After three full days of game play and 499+ defeated teams, there can be only one champion. These men’s names and stories will be written on the walls of history that will eventually become tailed legends. Through skill, perseverance, and dedication, the team that is destined to take it all will forever be immortalized as a true World Champion. Will you be the next to make history??

This past weekend hundreds of players from 13 states flocked to sunny San Diego, California, to compete in the 5th Annual West Coast Championships!

With a tremendously deep field, filled with some of the country’s best talent, it was known well ahead of time just how competitive this event would be. Throughout the various tournaments the brackets produced winners via many familiar faces; however, an upset or two nobody saw coming would rock the final table of the Main Event.

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$3,000 Kick-off Tournament:

The Friday night $3,000 Kick-off Tournament started the West Coast Championships with a bang! Arguably the best two players in the world (Ross Hampton (STL) & Brandon Marx (AZ)) came roaring out of the first-bracket of the double-bracket tournament to claim the first seat in the $3k Finals. Bracket two saw an upset in itself, as up-and-coming Florida ponger, Sven Anderson, and veteran ponger, Dante Yell, needed two straight wins against Brandon Marx and Brent Saale of St. Louis. They picked up the two W’s to secure their finals ticket. However, Marx and Hampton proved to be too much for Anderson/Yell, as the duo added to their impressive career earning totals.

Here is how the paid field stacked up for the $3k Kick-off Tournament:

1st – Brandon Marx & Ross Hampton ($1500)

2nd – Sven Anderson & Dante Yell ($750)

3rd – Brent Saale & Brandon Marx ($500)

4th – Ryan Smith & Rickey Shepard ($250)

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$2,000 Co-Ed Tournament:

The ladies got in on the action and their hands on some cash, as $2000 was handed out to the top 3 teams in the $2,000 Co-Ed event at WCC. Brent Saale cashed out once again, this time, atop the field as he and Lauren Braley toppled Mark Pimentel and Roxanne Hudson.

Ryan Smith and Brandi Wrathall reeled in a 3rd place finish to round out the cash winners. Smith had actually cashed out in the $3K with a 4th place finish as well. His stellar play in each event would foreshadow his eventual Main Event success.

1st – Brent Saale & Lauren Braley

2nd – Mark Pimentel & Roxanne Hudson

3rd – Ryan Smith and Brandi Wrathall

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Consolation Bracket:

Before we reveal the Main Event winners, we’ll dig into the consolation bracket a little bit. This was a bracket offered to all the teams who were eliminated and placed anywhere from 33rd to 72nd. A consolation bracket is a breath of fresh air for the teams who get a 2nd chance after potentially having an off game or having an unfavorable schedule. Former WSOBP Champion, Byron Findley came out atop the consolation bracket with his partner Hoss Kural and $500 in cash.

Here is how the consolation bracket stacked up:

1st – Byron Findley & Hoss Kural ($500)

2nd – Marcus Julien & Taylor Brunken ($300)

3rd – Ryan Perrine & Cody Jones ($100)

4th – Zak Corsi & Matt Stinson ($100)

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Main Event:

The Main Event Finals saw one team that is no stranger to playing in the last game of an event. The duo has won many of those games and has fallen few. Though, one came on the biggest final table of them all at the World Series of Beer Pong IX, this squad is a heavy favorite to win any event they compete in.

Blitzkrieg – Kevin Kessler (NJ) & Brandon Marx (AZ)

VS.

Ya Lawst – Ryan Smith (CA) & Justin Spurrier (NV)

This team received some notoriety pre-event as they were picked to finish in the top 10. However, this team was still a heavy underdog heading into the final series. Ryan Smith, a relatively new player in the pro circuit stepped up to the challenge, as did Justin Spurrier. Spurrier, a veteran player out of Las Vegas, may finally get the national recognition he has long deserved after his role in slaying Blitzkrieg to take home the West Coast Championship’s Main Event!

We here at BPONG want to send out our congratulations to all the players who placed this weekend and tip our hats to the gentlemen at OGP, NORCAL BP and Pongstars for putting on yet another great pong event!

Next stop, Atlantic City!

Stay tuned for updates, articles and important information about the $40,000 East Coast Beer Pong Championships going down January 28th – 31st, 2015 at Resorts Casino & Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey!!

For more information about the West Coast Championships, East Coast Beer Pong Championships, The World Series of Beer Pong or any of our/our affiliated events, please reach out to us at lastcup@bpong.com!

Every so often we’ll catch a glimpse of a celebrity or famous name playing a game of beer pong. In recent years, we’ve enjoyed “private” pictures or footage of the likes of Justin Bieber, Carmen Electra, and even the great Michael Jordan stepping up to the table to play a good ol’ fashioned game of pong.

Jimmy Fallon has also run a few pong bits, which has given us the pleasure of checking out some of our favorite celebs’ pong games over the years. Jennifer Garner, Kate Bosworth, Maria Sharapova, Salma Hayek, Kathie Lee Gifford, Sofia Vergara, Anna Kournikova, Naomi Watts, Helen Hunt and perhaps my favorite, Betty White (amongst others) have all stepped to the table to play The Tonight Show host.

This past weekend provided us with some more celebrity pong action. This time, not even the Secret Service could keep the photos from surfacing all over the internet!

Seventeen-year-old, Malia Obama, was spotted at a Brown University party knocking down cups on a beer pong table at a dorm party. Yes, that would be The President of the United States of America’s daughter.

Although her current game/experience can be assumed as prototypical, as the cups in the picture are clearly red party cups sitting on top of a presumably disassembled door, she still has lots of time to take her game to the next level! (Don’t worry Dad, we don’t put beer in our game cups or force any consumption. So she’s safe with us!)

Who knows, maybe she’s getting her game on point to try and become the first female to ever win The World Series of Beer Pong!! It would be a very impressive and unconventional, yet, synergetic feat to add to the family legacy! (Although, her shot would likely need to be a bit better than her old man’s jump shot in order to walk away with the big check one day!)

For more information on The World Series of Beer Pong or anything related to Beer Pong, please reach out to us at lastcup@bpong.com!

This past Saturday, Ocean Grown Pong played host to the 11th WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament thus far, which qualifies players to participate in the annual World Series of Beer Pong tournament, presented by BPONG.COM. There are currently 12 more Satellite Tournaments scheduled across the globe that have yet to be dictated; October being hot, as 9 of those 12 events will be played during this month.

Though many more Satellite Tournaments will sprout up between now and July of 2016, we can officially consider ourselves coming into the heart of Satellite Season.

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For those of you new to the scene, here is a quick rundown of just exactly what a Satellite Tournament is:

Typical WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament entry fees per player usually hover between $20 and $30 per bracket. Most tournaments run with a BPONG affiliation have converted over to a “double-bracket” format. Double-bracket tournaments consist of what are essentially two entirely different tournaments that typically require 2 losses before elimination. Once each bracket is played through in its entirety, the winners of each bracket meet in a Championship Series that dictates who takes home the prizes!

The Hideaway Café in Riverside, CA, had a FULL house on September 26th, 2016 that saw a couple familiar faces take home their first bid win of the season.

Coming out of the first WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament bracket was Mark Pimentel, who you may recognize from some of our recent blog articles. Mark has been an absolute monster recently (as if he hasn’t always been) and has taken home some big time wins. His partner in the first bracket was none other than Ocean Grown Pong’s very own, Ryan De Hoop. Many may not realize just how difficult it is to run an event and keep your hand hot enough to shoot your way to a win.

The second bracket was of “random” variety, meaning that partners were selected completely randomly. The reason for implementing a “random” format into one of the brackets is to keep the best players in the game from consistently forming teams together. The “random” factor generally helps spread out the talent and introduce new players to the veterans of the game. However, the random format is not flawless and sometimes great players end up with an even better random draw.

Mark Pimentel found himself with an early victory as he and his random partner, Zak Corsi fought their way through the second bracket.

Tricky situation, I know. Here’s how it works.

Mark won both brackets with two different partners, which means, Mark already won the tournament and gets to sit out while he watches his two partners play a best-of-3 singles series to see who gets the other bid.

Corsi took game 1 of the best-of-3 series and put De Hoop against the wall right out of the gate. However, De Hoop battled back to take the next two straight games and secure his World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament Championship!

Mark Pimentel and Ryan De Hoop will both receive a qualified entry into The WSOBP XI Main Event and a 4-night complimentary stay at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino from July 6th – 10th, 2016.

Mark also finished 1st and 2nd in the two side events that were hosted at Hideaway; One being a singles event, of which he finished second behind Lake Forest, CA, Ponger, Ryan Smith; The other side event being a Co-ed tournament, where Mark and his first lady, San Diego Ponger, Jessi Links, brought home the win.

You can catch Ocean Grown Pong and yet another WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament at the very same spot, The Hideaway Café in Riverside, CA, on October 24th, 2015. Whether you just missed the win on the 26th or just want to stop by to check out the action for the first time, it’s sure to be a great tournament!

Can’t make October 24th? No problem, OGP has you covered as they have a Satellite Tournament scheduled for November 5th, 2015 at Johnny V’s in San Diego, California. This particular Satellite event will precede the West Coast’s biggest event of the year, The 5th Annual West Coast Championships (WCC)!

The WCC event is co-hosted by Ocean Grown Pong, as well as, our friends over at Nor Cal Beer Pong and Pongstars.net!

You can find all the registration information for the West Coast Classic on the Official WCC event page here:

(https://www.facebook.com/events/1401263893346654/)

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For all other information on The World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournaments taking place around the globe, you can visit www.BPONG.COM to find out where all the action is going down, as more events are continuously added!

Whether you are near Michigan, Texas, California, Minnesota or even Switzerland, we got you covered for your opportunity to win your way in and compete in the end all, be all, of beer pong tournaments, THE WORLD SERIES OF BEER PONG!

Check out all the Satellite Tournament listings and dates here: http://www.bpong.com/wsobp-xi-satellite-tournaments/Didn’t find what you are looking for? Drop us a line at lastcup@bpong.com about anything beer pong related!

Just over a week ago (September 11th through the 13th), Chicago House of Music & Entertainment played host to The Best of the Midwest VI (BOMW); an event featuring four beer pong tournaments and had projected to pay out over $10,000 in cash and prizes.

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Friday, September 11th, 2015

The hype was real and the 6v6 event started with a bang two weeks before anyone had even stepped foot inside the HOME Theater just outside of Chicago, Illinois.

Teams were picked via a live player draft. 22 Captains were assigned, primarily being players from the top 4 placing teams at BOMW V. Those 22 Captains were designated a draft position determined by each player’s registration time. The first 11 Captains to register selected a Co-Captain from the last 11 Captains to register. Then, each pair of Captains selected the rest of their 6 man rosters from a pool of draft eligible beer pong players.

The first Captain selected was Mike Welsh by his New Jersey Nightmare teammate, Tim Williams. Ray Rivera of the Wisconsin Clown Coalition and Scott Frew of Illinois Insanity were the first Captains to select from the players pool. The number 1 overall pick came out of Michigan via Brandon Juracek. Juracek was a new roster addition this year to last year’s BOMW V 2nd place Michigan Mayhem squad.

The 6v6 tournament featured a primary bracket and a consolation bracket that teams who were eliminated from the primary bracket were given an option to buy back into.

Captains Andy DeCaluwe of Illinois Insanity and Kyle Eller of the Wisconsin Clown Coalition dropped their first match-up against the Nightmare lead squad; however, they were able to fight their way back to the final series of the primary bracket to avenge their earlier loss by picking up back-to-back wins and securing their spot in the 6v6 Championship Series.

Captains Brent Saale of STL’s Finest and Donnie Jones of Michigan Mayhem fell just short in the primary bracket. They took both of their losses to the DeCaluwe/Eller squad. The consolation bracket told a different story for the Saale/Jones duo squad as they blistered through the bracket and set themselves up to once again square off with the DeCaluwe/Eller lead team.

DeCaluwe/Eller proved to be too much for the Saale/Jones squad, as they wrapped up the largest portion of a prize pool exceeding $3,000 with the Championship Series win.

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Saturday, September 12th, 2015

The Singles Tournament kicked-off day two and the thunder started early with a couple of huge match ups dictating the pace of each bracket.

The previously mentioned Scott Frew of Illinois Insanity and Brent Saale of STL found themselves face-to-face (-to-face) in the very first round of the tournament; those two players perhaps being amongst favorites to win the singles crown going into the event.

See who won here: (Compliments of Jon Marczak – Michigan LOL)

(https://www.facebook.com/jon.marczak/videos/10100389298301952/)

Spoiler Alert – It was Frew. Frew won everything from game 1 on and not through any fluff. Scott won games against Kurt Heizmann, Nick Trupiano, and Donnie Jones, all players on the top two squads from BOMW V. He also beat the 1st round 9th overall pick from the 6v6 draft tournament, Paul Dausman, of the Indiana Dream Team and the 1st overall pick selected (including Captains), Mike Welsh, of the New Jersey Nightmare.

Frew eventually found himself in the king seed, front and center on stage at the HOME theater, with 10 crisp new blue bennies staring back at him from the center of the table; standing between him and those Franks, his opponent, Eric Lewis of Michigan Mayhem. Eric perhaps is one of the best players in the country that is still relatively unknown. He utilizes his length with a shot only players possessing incredible balance could perform well with. Mean lean or not, Scott Frew was still too much as he took home the Best of the Midwest VI Singles Championship.

As 7pm rolled around, the buzz came to a head as the preliminary rounds of the 10v10 Best of the Midwest Main Event started.

Going into play the favorites were the defending champions and their counterparts in last year BOMW V Finals at The Willis (Sears) Tower, Illinois Insanity and Michigan Mayhem.

Although neither team proved to be dominant in preliminary play, Michigan Mayhem settled comfortably into the 2nd seed being edged out of the top seed by a young New Jersey Nightmare squad. Another young team, a fresh STL’s Finest line-up showed up to play, rounding out the top 3. Michigan LOL edged out Insanity by a single cup for the 4th slot, dropping Illinois to a mediocre 5th seed.

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Sunday, September 13th, 2015

The stage was set for the ultimate finals and it was waiting for 2 teams to seize the opportunity to play under the lights. The two teams surviving the playoff bracket would square off and play 1 game at a time in a best 6 of 11 series on center stage inside the HOME Theater!

Perhaps what seemingly was the only upset of the first round was the young STL team toppling what looked to be a contending Wisconsin squad filled with veteran players. (Though STL was the 3seed and Wisconsin was 6, their preliminary records only differed by a game.)

After getting passed Michigan LOL, the reigning champs (Illinois Insanity) lined up against the New Jersey Nightmare and took their first series loss of the playoff bracket. STL stepped up big and threw a right hand at the other giant to drop Michigan Mayhem.

The aforementioned upset of a sleeper Wisconsin team didn’t go quietly as they eliminated both Illinois Insanity and Michigan Mayhem before getting stopped by New Jersey Nightmare, pending a Best of the Midwest VI Main Event Championship Series against STL’s Finest.

The two rosters were filled with new faces, most eager for their first big time tournament within the professional beer pong world. Below is how each team stacked up for this year’s Best of the Midwest Finals:

St. Louis came out swinging looking for an early knockout in the best 6 of 11 series as they jumped out to a huge 5-1 series lead. The Finals seemed to be all but wrapped up as that’s nearly as insurmountable as a lead one can get, however, New Jersey picked themselves up off the floor and kept fighting.

Little by little New Jersey chipped away until they eventually pulled themselves even and forced an 11th and decisive game. Although nearly the entire crowd seemed to be behind the St. Louis team, (as I’d assume the majority of the Midwest players would prefer the Gilkison Cup to reside within the Midwest), New Jersey eventually prevailed and pulled off the near impossible by coming all the way back from a 5-1 deficit to claim The Best of the Midwest VI Championship!

After being presented with The Gilkison Cup, the New Jersey Nightmare team decided to donate their individual Cup tours in order to house the cup in the home of the Gilkison family, after their plate is added, until The Best of the Midwest VII.

The WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament finals saw a match-up between the titan combo of Johnny Fourdyce and Eric Lewis vs. 6v6 Champion Kyle Eller and Michigan LOL shooter Tyler Spencer. Tyler set out to broaden his name and found an opportunity to bring down two of the best in the building in the finals of what’s undoubtedly the toughest Satellite of the year within in the Midwest. He fell just short but garnished respect, as Fourdyce and Lewis picked up the bid wins to conclude all tournaments at the Best of the Midwest VI.

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A special thanks to WGN 9 for stopping by to shoot with us on Friday (9/11/15) and FOX 32 for dropping by Sunday (9/13/15) for Bears Postgame Live from HOME Bar Chicago!

A special thanks to DJ Joe Green for once again holding down the Best of the Midwest for 3 straight days, as well as, a special thanks to Tommie King for doing a set for us on Friday night!

A very special thank you to all the organizers and players who came out to this tournament. You all host and play in tournaments, year around. Without you, every organizer and every player, this tournament can’t happen. You all are what make this event so great!

For pictures of this year’s Best of the Midwest event check out our photo album on the BPONG Facebook page! For more information on next year’s Best of the Midwest event, The World Series of Beer Pong XI or anything beer pong related, drop us a line at lastcup@bpong.com.

The clock is ticking quicker as September 11th approaches and the most anticipated tournament in the Midwest kicks-off at The Chicago House of Music & Entertainment on Friday night!

(www.homebarchicago.com)

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Friday night’s tournament will showcase a change from the typical Best of the Midwest lineup. A 6v6 formatted tournament will replace the familiar Friday night (2v2) $2.5K tournament. A variation in how squads are generally formed for larger teams will put a bit of a twist into game play.

A number of Captains have been (primarily) appointed from the top 4 placing teams in last year’s BOMW V Main Event. These Captains will participate in the first-ever BOMW player draft. Each team generated through the draft will need to feature players from 3 different states. (The draft will take place on Sunday, September 6th, 2015.)

While the 10v10 Main Event features restrictions limiting player team designation based on geographic affiliations, the 6v6 draft tournament aims to develop player relationships outside of a player’s primary location. By having numerous players from various states on one team it allows players to build potential partner relationships with players outside of their area by familiarizing themselves with one another; not only on a personal level but by also experiencing game play on a high level together.

The draft leads players who are arguably the best players at this event to become students of the game. If they want to win the tournament, they’ll need to draft the best team possible. In order to do that, they’ll need to be familiar with every player’s game in the draft pool.

Friday night’s entertainment will also feature live sounds from Las Vegas DJ Joe Green, who is also The Official World Series of Beer Pong DJ. Tommie King, of RFMG ENT., will also be featured live later in the evening.

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Saturday’s festivities will start at 1:00pm with a singles tournament. It’s you vs. the world and it’s only ten bucks to play! Want to play just to have some fun and not destroy your wallet? This might be the tournament you’re looking for.

After the singles tournament wraps up, the show we all have been waiting for will begin.

Roughly around 7:00pm, The Best of the Midwest (10v10) Main Event will commence. Saturday’s preliminary play will determine each team’s fate within the following day’s double-elimination playoff bracket.

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Sunday, September 13th, will be the day a new or reigning champion will be crowned as the victors of The Best of the Midwest VI.

The (10v10) Main Event playoff bracket will begin at 1:00pm. Players and teams from across the country will battle it out on 5 tables at a time with 5 (2v2) games taking place simultaneously on those tables, advancing the squad who takes at least 3 out of those 5 games.

The defending champion Illinois Insanity squad, deep in experience, will bring back almost every player from last year’s championship team. The Insanity will try to get half way to STLs Finest record 4-straight Best of the Midwest championships, with their second straight title.

Players hailing from Michigan will be coming in strong numbers, (thanks to our associate organizations BPA and MAC Pong), as they will enter at least 3-teams into this year’s main event. One such team, Michigan Mayhem, who will return the majority of their team from last year’s 2nd place roster, is determined to better their runner-up efforts from last year’s BOMW V Main Event.

The winner of this year’s Best of the Midwest VI Main Event will not only receive a huge chunk of the thousands in cash that will be given away over the weekend, but they will also be the first team in BOMW history to be presented with the newly appointed Best of the Midwest grand prize, “The Gilkison Cup.”

The symbolism the cup holds ensures the legacy of the late, great beer pong player, Zach Gilkison, is carried on. The perpetual plates will etch each year’s champion into BOMW history and the cup itself will forever represent a piece of what Zach really meant to the beer pong community.

After the fire settles and a Main Event champion is crowned, the attention shifts to The World Series of Beer Pong XI (WSOBP XI), as BOMW VI will conclude with a World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament.

This event will qualify two friends to participate in The WSOBP XI at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino from July 6th – 10th, 2016. Their entry into the WSOBP XI tournament will also include a 4-night stay at the host venue!

While registration is closed for BOMW VI’s Main Event, 6v6 and Singles tournaments, you can still register to participate in The WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament until September 11th!

The first two weekends out west in August had two $5K pong tournaments on the schedule. The first was hosted by SLC Pong and was played at Sandy Station in Sandy, Utah. The second was hosted the following weekend by NWBP at Aston Manor in Seattle, Washington.

Rewind to a few days prior when OGP came out with their player ballot rankings.

The most recent results of the polls did not sit too well with Arizona ponger and founder of Pongstars (Pongstars.net), Brandon Marx.

St. Louis ponger, Ross Hampton, was slated atop the list and was seemingly settling into a comfortable lead for that top spot. It’s hard to argue against someone whose resume is as accomplished as his with multiple major/mid-major victories and countless bid wins to his name.

However, Marx set out to these tournaments with the intentions of turning that potential argument into a difficult one.

His first stop was Sandy Station at the SLC $5k in Utah where he dominated the competition. Marx finished 1st and 3rd in the Kickoff tournament on Friday night, winning it with Utah ponger, Cody Castle, against a pair of Las Vegas players, Justin Spurrier and James Tripp. California ponger Mark Pimentel picked up the 3rd place nod with Marx.

This wouldn’t be the last check “Marky Marx” cashed that weekend as the duo took down the Main Event in the following days. Marx and Pimentel went head to head with Minnesota (Wisconsin) ponger Kyle Eller and another California ponger Josh Schwent to pick up the victory.

All familiar names would round out the top 3 spots of the singles tournament on Saturday night, as Justin Spurrier came out on top with Kyle Eller and Mark Pimentel hot on his heels.

SLC Pong’s $5k Singles Champions

SLC Pong’s $5k Main Event Winners

SLC Pong’s $5k Kick-off Tournament Winners

Coming off multiple wins in Utah and seeing another $5k tournament in Seattle as an opportunity to carry on towards his mission of proving he’s the best in the game right now, Marx boarded a plane to Washington.

Since his decision to play was last minute, Marx needed a World Series of Beer Pong XI Satellite Tournament partner when he arrived and picked up a rookie Seattle ponger, Michael Williams.

A Satellite Bid win here would seemingly be a difficult one as Ross Hampton had paired up with Marx’s Main Event partner for the Satellite tournament, former WSOBP singles champion, Brad Mosdell.

The two teams met in the finals and had already seen each other early on in the bracket. Hampton/Mosdell needed to win 2 games against Marx/Williams to take home the bids. Both teams shot lights out through multiple OT’s but Marx/Williams prevailed, qualifying themselves for next summer’s World Series of Beer Pong XI Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Westgate Resort & Casino.

Seattle $5k WSOBP XI Satellite Tournament Winners

The singles tournament was next on the schedule and it told more of the same story. Ross and Marx were squaring off in the finals for the 2nd time. The series was nothing short of expectations as both players shot phenomenally. However, Marx once again came out on top.

Seattle $5k Singles Winners

The Main Event of the weekend had reunited a pair of players who once hoisted the WSOBP $50,000 Grand Prize check together. (Something Marx has yet to have the pleasure of doing.) Former St. Louis native Matt White had recently relocated to Seattle, leaving little opportunity for him and his former battery mate Ross Hampton to Seek n’ Destroy as many tournaments as they use to. The two took the top-seed in preliminary play.

The duo made a run through the playoff bracket and got to the finals to once again create a Hampton/Marx championship. Marx, now teamed up with Canadian ponger Brad Mosdell, was looking to sweep the entire event with a victory. Having only missed a handful of shots in 2 games as a team, North meets South (Marx/Mosdell) secured the Seattle $5k Main Event.

Seemingly, Marx’s mission was complete. He was overtaken in the player voting polls by who is widely considered the best player on the planet (Ross Hampton) and set out to prove he is the better player. He couldn’t have asked for any more opportunities to prove it, as they met on the final table of every tournament over the weekend and he capitalized – winning all of them!

Seattle $5k Main Event Winners

Congratulations to all the pongers who shot well enough in either of these events to take home some cash!

Thanks a lot, Manus Shannon! If you haven’t heard, a few weeks back Manus was arrested after a heated game of beer pong at a party on Chicago’s south side.

Manus attempted the good ol’ classic distraction of pulling out your pistol and pointing it at your opponent’s face to try and get them to miss. Now, while this move is obviously practiced on a regular basis (sense our sarcasm?), Manus had to ruin it for all of us by actually shooting his opponent.

Props to Manus for hitting the kid in the finger, which essentially guarantees he’ll win since his opponent can no longer pick up the ball; however, he also lodged that slug in some unfortunate gentleman’s shoulder, who was just sitting behind the table texting, waiting his turn at the table.

This is likely the reason Sig Sauer yanked their Best of the Midwest VI sponsorship for the big, upcoming Chicago pong event in September. The sponsorship would have given all participants a free gun at the door with paid entry. I thought by this point, the rules on using a gun in your defensive strategy were clear cut. If you are going to fire your gun for distraction purposes, you should discharge it blindly, straight up into the air.

If you haven’t detected the sarcasm in this satire piece, this is clearly a joke. OBVIOUSLY, if you are playing a little pong, professionally or at a party, DON’T PULL OUT A GUN in an attempt to create a miss.

I do feel slightly bad for the guy, seeing as he does have a permit to own, carry and conceal a gun, so at least the weapon was legal. However, Manus still is facing charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and, last we heard, he was being held on a $100,000 bond.

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An even crazier side to this story is that Manus’s arresting officer has actually played in 9 out of 10 World Series of Beer Pong Main Events! How amusing would it be to see that local CPD Officer team up with Manus at the World Series of Beer Pong XI?! Seems like the ultimate web redemption to me. #TOSH.O

Of course, that’s pending the approval of his long-time teammate lending his talents to Manus. Team “MANBEARBIG” put up one of their best World Series of Beer Pong runs at WSOBP IX, propelling themselves into the playoff bracket on Day 3 with an 11-1 record.

For more information about The World Series of Beer Pong, visit www.bpong.com/wsobp/.

We have all taken part in heated discussions on which players are currently the best in the world at any given time. There are arguably 100’s of players you could denote as world class players but few can claim a unanimous vote to be dubbed as one of the top players on the planet.

Our friends over at Ocean Grown Pong (OGP) have recently opened up a player voting poll to track and organize this discussion. Similar to any All-Star voting ballot or post-season player award that recognizes individual accomplishments over a given season, OGP’s voting poll allows players and fans alike to voice their opinion on who should be honored with the distinction of being listed as an active top 15 player.

OGP’s vision is not to compile a sole list but to update the list quarterly in order to consider recent player achievements.

Voting is easy. All you need to do is visit the voting poll on OGP’s website, which can be found here; (http://www.oceangrownpong.com/#!voting-poll/cvo9) and provide your name, email address and write-in who you think the top 15 players are! Once you’ve done that, all you need to do is submit your form and your vote will be counted!

Polls are open now. Vote early, vote often!

How many players from your state do you think will make the cut? Do you think you deserve to be on this list?

For more information on competitive beer pong, please shoot us an email at lastcup@bpong.com and we’ll tell you how to get your chance to win $50,000 at The World Series of Beer Pong XI!

2v2 Kick-off Tournament:
The 2v2 Kick-off tournament will start the festivities at 7:00pm on Friday night. The tournament will feature a double-bracket, double-elimination format. In other words, you can enter into two separate brackets with two different partners. Each bracket will advance a winner into the championship series. The outcome of that series will dictate who takes home the win.

Main Event:
Saturday, August 1st will open registration/check-in at 11:00am. If you have pre-registered for the event, which can be done here, you must check-in by 12:15pm. If you have yet to register for the tournament, you may walk in the day of the tournament and register to participate up until 12:30pm.

Preliminary play will start at 1:00pm and teams will complete between 6 and 8 games that will seed them in the playoff bracket of the Main Event the following day.

Sunday, August 2nd will host the top 32 teams from preliminary play based on teams overall record and cup differential (how many cumulative cups you won/lost by). The final 32 teams will be split into two 16 team brackets. Each bracket will advance a winner to the SLC Pong $5000 Summer Beer Pong Main Event Championship! Those two teams will play a best-of-3 series to crown a champion!

First place will take home a cool $2925 for their efforts. Second and third place won’t be left totally disappointed, as those teams will be compensated $1350 and $425 respectively. On top of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes, the best overall record, the best cup differential, the highest seeded ladies team, as well as the highest seeded co-ed team during preliminary play will also be rewarded with $75 each for their finishes!

Coors Light and Rockstar energy will be sponsoring the event and contributing to the prize pool, marketing efforts and making sure SLC’s players get to play on some slick tables this year!

Check back with the BPONG blog next week for a recap of the all the action that goes down in Sandy, Utah this weekend!

For more information about SLC’s $5000 Summer Beer Pong Championships (like how to qualify to play for free!), please visit their webpage at www.slcpong.com.

We here at BPONG listen to our players and do the best we can to accommodate requests and implement quality ideas to our daily operations. Often, players use comparisons to other professional sporting leagues/organizations during discussions that periodically are responsible for generating some of those quality ideas.

One such comparison that happens to differ between BPONG and our “slightly” more experienced cohorts is the developmental programs that are available for players to participate in before taking their game to the next level.

Rooted in little league ball diamonds, pee-wee football fields and 7-foot basketball hoops; youth athletic programming is alive and well across the country; helping future athletes learn the basics of their favorite sports! Beyond that, those who fall in love continue to play throughout the various levels of high school and college athletics. Yet, this still is not the last stop (for some) before getting the opportunity to make a name for themselves within their sports professional circuit. Minor leagues, Developmental leagues, Scout leagues, Independent leagues, amongst various others are all also a part of the process, beyond the college athletic years, when pursuing a professional career for a lot of the athletes we admire in today’s games.

Obviously, BPONG has yet to break into the wide world of youth athletics and probably is still quite some time away from doing so. (Maybe not? Check out these little guys knocking down some cups.)

However, the disparity gap between implementing similar high school and college programming may not be as far off as it may seem.

(For those of you who are not aware, we here in the big leagues play with water in our game cups and DO NOT require ANY liquid consumption of ANY kind within our official tournament rules for a plethora of reasons. We like to have a whole lot of fun, create life-long friendships, fierce competition and win prizes/money!! So we thought we could sacrifice dumping beer down our gullets every time someone makes a shot in order to be able do that. (Legally, responsibly and sanitarily.) Though we definitely won’t discourage our of age players from responsibly enjoying a couple cold ones if they are available.)

In any case, these rules open up the potential for players under the age of 21 to enjoy the game we all love to play within a controlled environment. It gives parents and university recreational programs alike, a unique opportunity to extend a desirable “taboo” social experience onto younger generations without having to worry about any negative repercussions. The most positive aspect of this unique experience is unveiling an alternative way to play the game that has a greater participation substance established, in place of playing to get drunk. In theory, we hope this will help deter underage players from giving into the temptation to play “the real way” (that they will undoubtedly eventually get exposed to) and subjecting themselves to a situation that could potentially harm their future.

Around the country we have affiliated associations and organizations that offer these types of accommodations to interested groups. Hailing from Michigan, the Founder and CEO of Beer Pongers Anonymous (BPA), Joey Irimescu, is a sparkling example of just how family friendly our sport can be! While BPA offers a variety of public events on a weekly basis throughout the state, BPA also caters to private and corporate parties. A huge hit for BPA has been high school graduation parties!

Check out these youngsters putting on a show on the final table of a BPA graduation event!

(Notice the water in the cups, the complete absence of any alcohol whatsoever and just how much fun the entire group is having!)

If you are in the Michigan area and would like more information about BPA, please visit their website at www.beerpongersanonymous.com/. Also, make sure you check out BPA on Facebook and Instagram! To connect with BPA directly to book an event: Email – beerpongersanonymous@yahoo.com

If you are outside of the Michigan area and are interested in hosting a private, corporate or public event, drop us a line (Lastcup@bpong.com) and we’ll get you taken care of!

This past 4th of July weekend, while we here in America were celebrating our freedom with fireworks, recreational pong games, and more, our friends over in Munich, Germany, were hard at work as 144 teams from 14 countries battled it out at the very first European Series of Beer Pong (ESOBP)!

With nearly 300 participants in the building, hours of play ensued and eventually “Cup & Cupper,” Kevin Keenan and Christoph Vogel, toppled “MAC,” Michl Neubauer and Christian Rudat, for the European crown. Although the game went into overtime, in the end “Cup & Cupper” proved to be too much for “MAC” as they knocked down 3 straight cups to etch their name in the first chapters of the ESOBP history book!

(It’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago when BPONG crowned their first-ever World Series of Beer Pong Champions, ironically named “Team France.” Kudos to the original kings of pong, Nick Velissaris and Jason Coben. Check out this last known photo of the original “big check” before it infamously became a casualty of infinite cameras.)

WSOBP I Winners: Nick Velissaris and Jason Coben

If you want to be really impressed, check out the video of the championship game of the ESOBP here:

Watch out boys, these kids are good! Our current WSOBP Champs from New Jersey (“Pity the Fool” – Mike Vit and Kris Fraser) might be in a run for their money if they plan on returning to try and became just the 2nd team in WSOBP history to win back-to-back WSOBP Championship titles. (The first team to etch their names in the repeat champions list was, of course, “Smashing Time” – Mike Pop and Ron Hamilton.)

BPONG can’t wait to welcome “Cup & Cupper” to The World Series of Beer Pong XI! Will “Cup & Cupper” be our first-ever international champions?!

The first bracket of the Main Event… (A double-bracket tournament format allowed players to pair with a different partner in 2-separate brackets that are a part of the same tournament. The winners from each bracket meet to play for the tournament finals.) …drew first blood in the drama department. Three-time champion Braden Nading had paired off with an up and coming Indiana shooter, Paul Dausman, for his first bracket run.

Nading/Dausman squared off against the King Seed (Jermaine Anderson and Henry Lee) in the first bracket final. Facing bracket elimination with a single loss, Nading/Dausman rose to the occasion and double-dipped (won 2 games) against Anderson/Lee for the bracket win.

Nading was seemingly sitting pretty to take home his 4th straight Indiana State Championship, as he had already secured a spot in the finals and had yet to even play the bracket with his partner who he had claimed 3 straight titles with.

However, a pair of unmentioned duos leading up the Indy state tournament had other ideas. Chip Dowden & Tyler Rogge, as well as, Andrew Metzger & Brent DeMateo teamed up for the pair of wins that was needed to dethrone the 3-time reigning champions.

Frustration had clearly set in for the defending champs as Nading eventually resorted to bouncing deep into their final game while facing elimination. This did not sit well with Bacon, the two began to argue and the most dominate team in the history of the tournament were put to sleep by Chip Dowden and Tyler Rogge. Bacon and Nading seemed to carry tension for the remainder of the event.

Metzger & DeMateo found themselves sitting in the King Seed of the second bracket. Jermaine Anderson & Gian Sutton were the challengers and needed back-to-back wins against Metzger & DeMateo to advance to the finals.

Yet again, the underdogs stepped up and Anderson/Sutton fought their way into the Indiana State Beer Pong Championship Finals, winning consecutive games against the King Seed of the second bracket.

Waiting for Jermaine and Gian was still the 3-time reigning champ, Braden Nading, as he and Paul Dausman had eliminated Jermaine and Henry Lee from the King Seed of the first bracket to move into the Indiana State Beer Pong Championship Finals.

Highlighting 4 of the top players in Indiana, the finals showed the rest of the Midwest what kind of firepower Indiana is bringing to BOMW VI., this September. Perhaps hot off of the back to back wins in the 2nd bracket final, Jermaine and Gian rolled over Nading/Dausman, etching their name into the Indiana State Beer Pong history books along the way.

The singles tournament ended up with an interesting story line considering the outcome of the Main Event.

Jermaine Anderson found himself in the King Seed of the singles tournament. He watched his newly crowned champion teammate (Gian Sutton) once again square off against the now former champion (Braden Nading) to determine who would eventually advance to the finals to face Anderson. After Gian toppled Nading, he stepped to the table against Jordan Beebe. This game was arguably the best of the weekend having gone into multiple overtimes before a winner was established.

Gian came out victorious, of which, set up a singles match-up between the now definable, top two beer pong players in the state of Indiana. The partners were clearly fighting for the win but were having a ton of fun doing it, as this entire event shined a huge light on their “Wolf Pac.” Gian put together back-to-back wins against Jermaine to take the singles crown.

Compiling a composite score from all the tournaments each player participated in over the weekend at the Indiana State Beer Pong Championships, a statistical rank is generated based on overall record and cup differential.

Check out the Top Ten Players from The Indiana State Beer Pong Championships!

Recently, Susan Bonifant of the Washington Post wrote a piece on her first experience playing beer pong with her college junior son on a North Carolina campus during a “snowpocalypse” party, of which, cancelled all classes.

Without knowing it, Susan perfectly outlined so many details of what makes the sport of professional pong and the beer pong community such an incredible and unique family to be a part of.

A revelation took place within Susan in regards to her perspective on what it means to be “old”. This phenomenon is not a new concept for us here at BPONG.COM. Fortunately, for us and some of our players/organizers, we’ve got the pleasure to watch this exact scenario play out at various tournaments across the country, including at The World Series of Beer Pong itself!

An extremely rare feature within the sports world that professional pong can proudly claim is that player participation limitations are ageless. Meaning, the physical demand that eventually claims the ability it takes to play most any competitive sport does not exist within “beer” pong. Hence, how an individual that may view themselves as “old” can experience the adrenaline rush that drives a youthful competitive spirit.

Whether this experience is a revival of a former athlete or a brand new emotional high for someone who has never had the opportunity to feel the satisfaction of conquering another team in any sort of organized competitive fashion, beer pong can be a fun rush. The thirst that’s quenched after being able to feel that competitive spirit many had no choice but to leave in their high school/college locker is often so fulfilling. It’s difficult to not be able to blatantly see the youthful joy on a player’s face.

The thrill of learning, growing, and succeeding in new experiences is more commonly prevalent in any particular individuals youth versus the years spent rhythmically succeeding within the niche career they’ve chosen. Beer pong has proven, time and again, to disrupt that rhythm for pre-millennial generations. It provides a unique platform to connect with later generations, often stemming from one’s own children getting their first opportunity to teach their parents something, as was the case with Susan.

Though professional beer pong tournaments tend to be competitive, success is enjoyed and measured on many different levels that make the game enjoyable for all ages, regardless of where you ultimately place in any given tournament. For the mother competing in her first game with her son surrounded by a flock of his closest bros at a “snowpocalypse” party, a single made shot seemingly fields a similar reaction to a rowdy group of friends watching their buddy cash in on a $50,000 check after finally taking down that World Series of Beer Pong title, after nearly a decade of efforts.

So, in our opinion, and as Susan has discovered, you are never too old to play a little beer pong.

_On a Side Note_

Susan also obliviously provided us here in the pong big leagues a quality scouting report of how our future stars are developing on college campuses across the country! Look at you guys being all responsible and using water in your game cups. (Please, always drink responsibly.)

You guys were also giving parents tips on following through using your wrist!! Looks like the young guns have ditched the heave and are figuring out some shot mechanics before gracing a BPONG table at an official tournament; impressive, gentlemen.

Your mother was just one small detail away from filling me with so much pride that I would have been so overwhelmed, I likely would have had to hop a flight to North Carolina and personally ran a WSOBP XI. Satellite tournament myself for that campus!

Leaving me only one final piece of advice for her if she ever does enter the professional circuit – lean or get leaned on, Susan.

According to AskMen.com, there’s only a 40% chance you’ll sink that cup!Ahh…, statistics in beer pong. These are definitely something we here at BPONG.COM have put a lot of thought into how to regulate and track.

Although, a cohesive system has yet to be perfected that accurately tracks and maintains player’s statistics from all the BPONG tournaments that people participate in around the country; we as a community, have done more than our fair share of projecting our own and our opponent’s shooting percentages.

The term “hundo” is thrown around by players pretty casually, though, most “hundo’s” seem to have a bit of a Reap-like smell to them.

(For those of you who might be lost, “hundo” is a reference to shooting 100% in a beer pong game. “Reap-hundo” is a term players use to reference a player claiming to have shot 100% in a game but had actually missed shots during that game.)

Even considering that the majority of the claims at shooting 100% in a game are likely inaccurate, there are players who do achieve this feat on a semi-regular basis, especially within the professional pong circuit. However, perfect games are not the only thing that seems to get exaggerated from time to time; players also tend to forget a good handful of misses when manually calculating a tournament shooting percentage estimate. Until a platform to track, record and store shot-for-shot statistics in pong is developed, we can only take our best guess at how well we actually shoot in any particular tournament.

_

Ian Lang of askmen.com and mathematician Dominic Spadacene break it down by the numbers, of which, will likely bring some of your self-shooting percentage projections back down to earth.

Dominic uses geometry to calculate the actual likelihood of a ball landing in a cup when a pong ball is thrown in the direction of the cups.

The mathematician’s formula never gives a player more than a 40% chance of making a shot, even with a full 10-rack set up! A clean shot (doesn’t hit the rim and bounce in), is projected to happen about 27% of the time. (Note: These calculations were NOT done with Official BPONG cups. Considering the smaller dimensions of BPONG cups vs. general party cups, these percentages likely would be even less if calculated on Official BPONG cups!)

Obviously, this does not account for the skills that a professional pong player possesses, but it does reveal an origin for performance evaluation. Now if we could only talk John Brenkus into considering all the other variables of a pro ponger’s shot to really get a good idea on just how well someone could actually shoot over the course of an entire tournament!

Late Sunday night concluded the 2015 “Best of the West” Pong Championships. If you haven’t been following the action, here’s a recap: This past Friday, June 5th, started the festivities with a $2,000 kick-off tournament, in which Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) clenched the title for the second consecutive year. Read more about their win here.

On to the Main Event:

Prelims began on Saturday, June 6th, and told another tale of Marx as Arizona led the way with a (22-8, +50) record to secure the number 1 seed heading into the playoff bracket on Day 3. However, the Vegas squad foreshadowed Day 3 drama pulling in right behind the AZ squad with a (20-10, +45) record.

Day 3 produced an upset in the 2nd round when the Ocean Grown Pong squad knocked off the reigning 4-time BOW champion Nor Cal team. The San Diego Kingz, led by Mark Pimentel, put down former WSOBP Champion Byron Findley’s new Californian team in the 2nd round to set up a semi-final match-up against the Las Vegas Kick Rocks team. The Arizona squad eventually sent the OGP team into the 3rd place game from the semi-final match-up that ensued following their upset of Nor Cal.

The Vegas boys prevailed against Pimentel’s San Diego Kingz, which put them in a position to win Las Vegas’s first BOW title upon defeating Arizona.

The Arizona men looked to be the favorite after 4 rounds of finals play (best of 25), leading the Las Vegas team 11-9 going into the final round; needing just 2 more wins to secure the 2015 Best Of The West Championship. Arizona took game 1 in the last round of play and it seemed inevitable that AZ would be claiming both the Men’s and Women’s titles. However, the Vegas squad had other ideas as they fought back to secure the next 3 games to set up a decisive game 5 (or 25) for all the marbles!

Dante Yell & Mike Wan (Vegas) vs. TJ Robinson & Vance Anzaldua (Arizona). Its triple OT and Arizona must rebuttal 2 cups in order to force a fourth overtime. Vance Anzaldua knocks down the two-rack to give his teammate an opportunity to keep the game alive. Robinson’s shot falls short along with Arizona’s title hopes.

The Arizona ladies squad also found themselves in the finals vs. a familiar foe in the San Diego/So Cal squad. After a rough preliminary showing, the San Diego team picked up their play enough during the playoffs to will themselves back to the finals but still fell just short of defending their crown. This is the 4th time in 5 years that the Arizona ladies have taken the BOW hardware home with them.

Congratulations to the Arizona ladies squad on your 2015 Best Of The West win!

Arguably, a just as impressive performance on the ladies front comes from one of only two female participants playing in the BOW Main Event. OGP’s Roxanne Huey led her team to a series win vs. the San Diego Kingz that ultimately resulted in her team cashing out with a 3rd place finish.

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Can’t get enough of 10v10 beer pong action? No worries, The Best Of The Midwest (BOMW) is right around the corner! This fall, September 11th-13th, teams from across the midwest will take flight to Chicago, IL, to determine who is the Best Of The Midwest!!

Check out BPONG.COM or HOMEbarchicago.com for more BOMW VI. information, or visit the Official BOMW VI. event page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/873359099390775/

As Day 2 of The Best Of The West (BOW) tournament in San Diego, CA, wound down late last night, the kickoff tourney champs were crowned and the preliminary schedule was wrapped up, paving the way for Day 3 action.

Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) fight their way to the top of the BOW $2k kick-off tourney title.

In the Kick-off Tourney, Brandon Marx (AZ) and Mark Pimentel (CA) claimed the cash and the top spot in the kickoff tourney for the 2nd straight year. This championship is actually Marx’s 3rd straight BOW kickoff tourney win, having won the tournament with Travis Carl in 2013 as well.

Before claiming this win, Marx and Pimentel had to take down another AZ/CA pairing of TJ Robinson (AZ) and Ryan Smith (CA). The entertainment value of this finals matchup did not disappoint! As Game 1 began, it felt like the making of an enormous upset – to everyone in the building except Big Mark and Marx.

The chatter was high on the end off the table that was occupied by Robinson/Smith and rightfully so, as every advantage needs to be capitalized on. (Especially, in a finals match and even more so against such highly touted competition.) Ryan Smith stepped up to the table with supreme confidence in himself to sink the last cup left on the table to put Pimentel/Marx against the ropes and force rebuttal shots.

…this is where things got interesting…

Smith, without skipping a beat, continued to talk trash as he gathered his shot, even requesting the direct attention of his opponents while shooting. However, given the extensive experience of the Marx/Pimentel squad, Marx decided to utilize a defensive strategy best left to the top players on the planet and does so in flawless fashion.

With only one cup remaining on both sides, and in the midst of a flurry of trash talk (with $2k on the line, of course), Marx intercepts Smith’s shot mid-air (leaving no chance for a miss) and fluently bangs his rebuttal shot all in one motion. (At this point, Tim Mozgov and Fredrick Weis might as well have been standing on the other side of the table.)

Game 2 didn’t turn out to be as close as the first as Marx/Pimentel completed their quest to repeat. My guess is because of the manhood that was all but stripped from them at the end of Game 1.

Beer Pong players from across the West Coast unite at Johnny V’s in San Diego this weekend for the annual Best Of The West tournament!

In anticipation of this event, we had pondered the likelihood of Nor Cal continuing their dominance with a new roster. After Day 2, it seems that they are coming back down to earth, as they finished prelims (19-11, +5) and in the 4th seed. However, SOJO’s WSOBP battery mate (Tim “Byron” Findley) seems to have found a new Cali squad, “Cali’s Last Resort”, as they settled comfortably into the 3rd seed with a (19-13, +33) record.

Marx continued his quality play as he has led his Arizona squad to the top overall seed in preliminary play with a (22-8, +50) record.

Having almost zero hype leading up to BOW was the Las Vegas teams. The men (Kick Rocks) have secured the 2nd seed and the Vegas ladies have the top overall seed going into bracket play. A good showing for sure!

The returning ladies champs (Southern California) fell to (4-8, -22) and slipped into the 4th seed, as the 3-time ladies champion Arizona squad sits near the top of the bracket in a 2 seed with a (7-5, +13) record.

Who will take home the Main Event title and be crowned 2015’s Best Of The West?

This weekend, one of the country’s most revered professional pong tournaments will commence: The 6th Annual Best Of The West!

A quintuple of premiere organizations, including West Coast Pong, Nor Cal Beer Pong, Ocean Grown Pong, Pongstars.net and Fast Times Entertainment, will play host to the event. Festivities will kick off Friday night with a $2000 Multi-Partner tournament at Johnny V’s in San Diego, California. (945 Garnet Ave, San Diego, California, 92109) The Main Event will also take place at Johnny V’s on Saturday, June 6th, and will run thru Sunday, June 7th.

The Best Of The West (BOW) is one event in a series of “Best Of” tournaments that take place across the United States. Other “Best Of” series include the Best Of The Midwest, Best Of The South, and Beast Of The East. A distinctive feature of the “Best Of” series of events across the country is the 10v10 tournament format that is used. If you are unfamiliar with how this is possible in a game of beer pong, here is a quick run down:

Five BPONG tables are lined up next to each other and 5 individual (2v2) games are played
simultaneously. In order to win the overall match-up, your 10v10 team affiliation
must win at least 3 of those 5 individual (2v2) games. The BOW 10v10 teams are formed
by regional affiliation.

Here’s what to look for at this year’s event:

Reigning supreme over the Best Of The West’s operable tenure, Nor Cal Beer Pong (pictured below) will look to extend its legacy by adding a 5th title to their BOW collection. However, they will have to overcome replacing a key roster spot held by former World Series of Beer Pong Champion and pong legend, Mike Seivert.

When it comes to the ladies, we’re looking for a battle between Arizona and Southern California! After winning 3-straight women’s titles, the Arizona ladies squad (pictured below) will try to reclaim their hardware from last year’s Southern Californian championship team.

For additional pictures and more information about the Best Of The West, please visit the Official BOW webpage at: www.bestofwestpong.com

Or visit the Official BOW Facebook event page at: https://www.facebook.com/bestofthewestpong?fref=ts

It’s hard to believe that we here at BPONG.COM just celebrated a full decade of competitive, professional beer pong at our 10th Annual World Series of Beer Pong this past January! Likewise, many of our affiliated organizers and associations are celebrating milestones of their own this year as the sport continues to grow.

One in particular is the Indiana State Beer Pong Championships, which will be celebrating its 5th anniversary. On March 26th of 2011, Dustin Rose of Muncie, IN, played host to the first of what would be an annual tournament exclusive to Hoosier residents. The exclusivity feature is a rarity in the pong community as many players travel from out of state to any event they can get to. However, Rose had a vision to crown Indiana’s best players and, therefore, required all players to have an Indiana state ID or Indiana college ID to be eligible for participation. The exclusive tradition will continue this year with a new host.

The 2015 event will be operated by Southern Indiana Beer Pong (SINBP) in Columbus, IN, at Scores Sports Bar and Grill on Saturday, June 27th @ 12:00pm.

Calling all Indiana University, Indiana State University, Butler University, Purdue University, Valparaiso University, Ball State University, and University of Indianapolis pong players. You all collectively have 0 state pong championships. Therefore, no matter how many games you won in a row at your last gathering, there are others in Indiana who hold official reign as kings of the table. In fact, two players, Braden Nading & James Bacon, have dominated this event for the past three years.

Who will take home this year’s championship and be crowned the best in Indiana? Will anybody be able to dethrone the 3-time reigning doubles champions this year?

Check out the winners from the first 4 installments of the Indiana State Pong Championships:

Jahlil Okafor plays beer pong to determine which NBA team he will play for.

The NBA draft is scheduled to begin at 7:30 ET on June 25th, and consensus top two pick Jahlil Okafor has recently taken to the beer pong table to hypothetically determine his professional basketball fate. (While the table used does not appear to be regulation size, this is a method of decision making that we at BPONG.COM completely support!) Armed with a table tennis ball, similar to the ones used in the actual draft, the 6’11” Center began eliminating possible teams one shot at a time. He was eventually faced with a two-rack consisting of Philadelphia and New York. The Duke University athlete intentionally eliminated (we’d like to assume) the 76ers pronouncing the Knicks his team of choice.

Okafor claimed to have never participated in the game before (roll eyes), as it would have been expected for there to have been beer in the cups if so. Little does he know, that if he were to step up his game and play on a professional level, utilizing official World Series of Beer Pong rules, there is no drinking required.

When it came to his natural beer pong talent, Jahlil Okafor showed strong form while consistently making the cups he had aimed for. Just imagine how much more promise the 19-year-old could show if he was leaning over the table, a legal maneuver in the professional circuit. Certainly his 89” wingspan would aid him in any future participation in the game we love so dearly.

However, his height and length would not even be his greatest strength in beer pong. His competitive nature and mental toughness has already been tested through his years of high level basketball. If Okafor can perform on the court in a national championship, with thousands of opposing fans maliciously berating him, the foul words of a beer pong opponent defending him should have little effect.

Seeing Jahlil Okafor grace the tables of a BPONG event would certainly be a dream for many players and organizers alike. Considering the addictive nature of this game and the amazing community, we’re sure his first event would absolutely not be his last.

And one last thing: Jahlil, could you please have a conversation with Sir Charles Barkley on our behalf since he said that “black people don’t play beer pong”? Not only was he clearly wrong, you chose the sport of beer pong to help make the important determination of where you should hypothetically land in the NBA, which was a great choice, by the way.

Check out Bleacher Report to watch Jahlil smash cups before he walks across the stage and shakes Adam Silver’s hand on draft day.

This past week we lost a budding legend within our beer pong community. Sharing this news and reflecting on the matter has been one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. Zach Gilkison’s life was tragically taken by the deliberate actions of another on April 16th, 2015.

The immediate impact on those closest to Zach and the greater beer pong community was evident when news swept through social media, causing an outpour of emotion.

Within hours of the news reaching the pong community, there were thousands of pictures, posts, toasts, and tribute videos circulating through social media steaming from friends and players. The beer pong community and others donated thousands of dollars over the course of just a few days to help Zach’s family cover the expenses caused by his tragic passing.

The reaction to Zach’s passing speaks volumes to not only the type of player he was and how much he meant to this sport and organization but also to the type of human being he was. Zach made a substantial and lasting impact on everyone that met him within both the beer pong community and outside the community as well.

Zach’s genuine heart and authentic smile helped him reach so many people on a personal level. People envied and idolized the “Cincinnasty” in him. Players will remember Zach’s game for the tenacity and passion with which he ponged.

While reflecting on Zach’s life and passion for both beer pong and The World Series of Beer Pong, we spent some time digging through thousands of past event photos in search of pictures of Zach doing what he loved best. Two things really jumped out to us while we were reliving the past through pictures:

(1) The first thing that really jumped out was the set of pictures we found from WSOBP V. It was not the pictures of Zach fighting his way to an impressive 7th place finish with a record of 14-5, +15 that stood out. Instead, it was the pictures of the championship match that grabbed our attention. Despite Zach no longer being in the tournament, he was there, front and center (two people away from Facetime), enthusiastically and passionately watching the Championship Match. These pictures captured the incredible passion Zach had for the game.

(2) The second thing that grabbed our attention had to make us laugh a little: Zach had a certain unique style and look, as well as a certain way of always tilting his hat in the same direction. This greatly helped us while searching through thousands of pictures, and we had to smile when we started spotting him in pictures from the back while quickly going through so many.

Reflecting on what Zach has meant to the pong community and me personally has not been easy. I felt uncertain about what to say or if anything should be said at all, especially in view of the conflict Zach and the BPONG staff had at the last WSOBP, for which I believe Zach and I thankfully had the opportunity to find peace (based on conversations we had). I was fearful that making a public statement could distract from the community’s positive reflection of Zach’s life, but after talking to some of Zach’s friends, I am convinced that Zach would have wanted nothing less than for me to publicly reflect on who he was as both a player and a person.

As one of Zach’s friends told me, he believed in the sport of beer pong, and he believed in BPONG. He believed in and loved all of you. He was a prime example of what an ideal professional player and person should embody. Not only did he have an extraordinary talent and purse thousands over his career, but he was also a true ambassador of the game. Without question, he is one of the greatest players, in both ability and character, in the history of this young sport.

Zach’s legacy will live on forever in this sport. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that his legacy impacts even those that do not yet know him. If you had not previously heard the name Zach “Cincinnasty” Gilkison, I assure you that this article will not be the last you will hear his name if you continue to follow the pong community.

To everyone who was touched by this tragedy, my deepest condolences go out to you. I ask that you all help me ensure that Zach’s legend lives on and ensure that his life will continue to positively impact the lives of both current and future pong players.

RIP – Zach Gilkison: 9/25/87 – 4/16/15

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Visitation will be held from 6 PM until time of service at 8:30 PM, Friday, April 24th at Fares J. Radel Funeral Home, 5950 Kellogg Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45230.

Immediately following visitation and services, Lebos Sports Bar and Grill will be hosting a tournament for friends and relatives to commemorate and celebrate the life of one of the game’s greats.

Preliminary play at The WSOBP X wrapped up yesterday (January 3rd) and 160 teams remain in the running for the $50,000 grand prize that will be awarded at the conclusion of today’s games. Check the official WSOBP X Day 2 Standings below to see if your favorite players are still in the running.

While many are celebrating the night before Christmas, here at BPONG we are celebrating the week before The WSOBP X. For those counting down with us, here is a twist on the classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Enjoy!

’Twas the Week before The WSOBP X…

‘Twas the week before The World Series of Beer Pong

When all through the Las Vegas strip,

Every beer ponging creature had been practicing,

And reading up on every BPONG toss tip;

The little white balls were disinfected with care,

In hopes that no nasty ass germs would be found there;

The distraction costumes laid out across the feet of their beds,

As visions of BPONG models holding pitchers danced in their heads;

And the BPONGing lady competitors were getting excited, too,

If they won the $50k, whatever with the money shall they do?!

The BPONG tables lined up sparkling, having just been scoured clean,

The racks hold BPONG cups neatly, this competition will be mean;

The Riviera maids cleaned the rooms and folded down the sheets,

They are BPONG elves helping make the stay a special treat;

The amazing WSOBP X DJ has handpicked the best party tunes,

We’ve all been waiting for this moment for many a Blue Moons;

Side events for girls only, guys only, too,

Screw it, let’s play house rules out of the blue;

While New Years Eve magic blankets the Las Vegas Strip,

And the countdown clock ticks as the strong liquor drips;

The men put on their ties and women slide into dresses,

As we say goodbye to the year and goodbye to our stresses;

Assuming we survive the debauchery the strip offers us,

We’ll have game faces ready as we arrive at The WSOBP X fuss;

Our fresh player wristbands will be gross in no time,

As we wear them for days, you won’t hear us whine;

Excited for our schedules, to see who we will play,

Crossing fingers for a VIP drink package to brighten up our day;

After a year of waiting, we’re thrilled The WSOBP X has arrived,

We plan on whooping ass, that $50k is ours, our team is on fire!

The announcer voice booms through the halls, players running amuck,

“Merry World Series of Beer Pong to all! And to all the best of luck!”

Check out all of the teams and players that will be competing at this year’s World Series of Beer Pong X, January 1-5 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.* Who do you think will be crowned this year’s World Champion of Beer Pong, walking away with ultimate bragging rights and a cool $50k?
(*Team listing is as of 12-23-2014.)

We wanted to post definitive answers to a few questions that we kept getting.

1. We heard there are No Late Registrations this year, but there always have been in the past. Can we just register late.

The short answer is no there will not be late registrations, unless you want to pay a lot more in a few weeks.

This year, we are working with a new casino/hotel, and while the new location has many advantages for the players and our event experience, the dates of this event are unique in that they fall on the weekend after New Years Eve.

We therefore do not expect the Riviera to be able to extend our deadline, but on the off chance that they do, the prices will be going WAY UP.

We were able to get this $299 option approved without hotel, which we can likely extend. However, the floor plans are due to the fire marshal on Dec. 12, so we will only be able to accommodate additional registrations if the floor plan we submit allows us to do so.

The month before The WSOBP is one the most exciting times for any kind of beer pong player. For the casual player, the idea of going to Las Vegas for a week of drinking, debauchery, gambling and a little bit of beer pong is exciting enough. For the serious player, The WSOBP is the culmination of something much more…

In just about a month and a half, hundreds of beer pong players will travel to the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Sin City for The World Series of Beer Pong X, a chance for the $50,000 Grand Prize and ultimate bragging rights.

We are approaching one of the most exciting times for any kind of beer pong player – the month before The WSOBP. For the casual player, the idea of going to Las Vegas for a week of drinking, debauchery, gambling, and a little bit of beer pong is exciting enough. For the serious player, The WSOBP is the culmination of something much more.

Starting with that first beer pong tournament we play in late winter or early spring, most of us have our eyes on the $50,000 WSOBP prize. You start to put feelers out for serious partners and look for the players that will help carry you deep into the tournament. You start the difficult task of finding and winning a Satellite event to pay for your trip, or if you are one of the top players, amassing a collection of bids to sell to your friends and anyone looking for a discount. Partnerships are formed and friendships are strained, all for the chance to be the ones holding that novelty check at the end of the day on January 4th.

But things change in the final month leading up to The WSOBP. Shit gets real. When that deadline approaches, it becomes time to put up or shut up. You find out if that dude who has been swearing for months that he will play with you really will, or if you need to scramble at the last minute to find a capable partner. You put in that vacation time at the last second with your boss and hold your breath that it gets approved. You start looking for the cheapest flights possible, even if you need to switch planes four times to get to Las Vegas (unless of course you win the entire trip)

One of the best parts of signing up for The WSOBP is simply signing up. You’re actually going to The World Series of Beer Pong! You can breathe a sigh of relief and just worry about the holidays and getting ready for Vegas. You start sending Facebook messages to the guys you haven’t kept in touch with often to find out if they are going, when they are going, and who they are playing with. Beer pong players are giddy like school girls the month before The WSOBP. For a lot of us, it’s the only time of the year we can get away with practicing beer pong every night of the week without getting in trouble or landing in the doghouse.

The greatest thing about the month before The WSOBP is that, for right now, it’s anyone’s game. Have you ever noticed that almost everyone thinks they are the greatest beer pong player in the world? Sure, there’s trash talk and altercations in other sports, but I think we see so much of it in beer pong because most players genuinely think they are the best. We’ll throw down $100 for a cash game without thinking about it because we don’t expect to lose. We’ll qualify our losses by making excuses or blaming our partners.

We think we’re either the best or capable of being the best. And unless you’re heading out to The WSOBP just to dress as a woman, wear a costume or just black out, you think you are going to win. Have you ever seen someone post a Facebook status on January 1st that said, “Heading to Las Vegas to not win $50,000 playing beer pong”?

The month of excitement ends on January 1st. You’re there. You’re checked in and you have the list of teams you play. You start sizing up your competition and asking anyone and everyone for scouting reports on them. And when you get herded into the ballroom like cattle and they call those first games over the speakers, you know it’s time to work. The butterflies in your stomach go away, the beer tastes delicious, and all is right with the world.

Of those hundreds of players heading out to The WSOBP X, only two will be able to win that final game of the tournament and hold up that big ass check. The rest of us get to sulk on our flights home, swear off playing beer pong for good, and suffer through the almost guaranteed chance of being sick with the “Pong Flu.”

We all know the art of distraction within a high-pressure beer pong game is a team trait that could serve as the straw that breaks your opponents’ backs. The higher your beer pong level gets, the more complex your distraction tactics must be. Save the waving of the hands over cups while your opponents toss for the amateur basement parties.

Another component of beer pong, most sensible for higher level players, involves that of camaraderie. Feeling supported by your fellow players and having them feel supported by you is the basis of family, and family is what you should feel like to truly excel. We’ve seen it before. High-stake tournaments where skill levels are ridiculous, and one negative emotional rift between teammates gives the whole game to the opposing, positively encouraging team. Wah wah.

In our attempts to improve your beer pong game in every way, our researchers at BPONG.COM believe costumes take these concepts to the next level. Without having to say a word to your opponent, your silly and maybe-even-obnoxious costumes will speak volumes. Imagine this: your team is in The World Series of Beer Pong finals. The glittery Las Vegas energy is coursing through the veins of every WSOBP attendant while the tension rises rapidly. Either you or your opponents will be going home with $50,000. The other team got matching shirts made. Is that a team logo I see? That’s legit. Somewhat intimidating even. What did you do to keep up? Simple.

Your girlfriends broke out their hot glue guns and you bought yards of felt and stuffing. After crafting the most beautifully symmetrical nipples as cherries on top, you are ready to go as the most infamous pair in history – boobs. Your eyes don’t leave your opponents’ tossing hands. You only smirk when you’ve made a shot. Your game is fierce, but your costume yells, WE ARE FUN AS HELL. The crowd giggles and cheers as you waddle around, making cup after cup, serving as an active thorn in the side of your opponents. Every shot you make hits them a little harder, because, after all, they’re getting whooped by a pair of titties, for lack of a better word. There is no better word.

What better time to start considering costumes than Halloween time? The World Series of Beer Pong is two months away, and as you know, Halloween is this week. Savvy BPONGers: Choose your Halloween costume wisely so it can double as your game-changing World Series of Beer Pong distraction tool. Chicks love savvy dudes.

Beer Pong is considered a drinking game that’s mostly popular on college campuses. The game’s played with cups and balls. The cups are half filled with beer and are arranged in a triangle shape starting with 3 cups at the farthest edge of the table, descending to the one cup ascending closer to the center of the table. It’s usually played 1 on 1, 2 on 2, or sometimes even 3 on 3. There’s usually a small ritual to determine which team will go first, such as rock paper scissors, a coin flip, etc.

The object of the game is for one person to throw two of their balls into a cup at the other end of the table. If the balls go into the cups of the opposite team, the cup is removed from the game, often with the team drinking the beer in the cups. The balls are thrown until there is a miss of both balls, then it’s the other team’s turn. Most people have a bucket to clean splashes off the table and to keep the cups drinkable.

There are different ways the game can be played. The balls can be bounced into the cups, the balls can bounce once inside the cups, or the balls cannot bounce once inside the cups. Creativity and imagination have possibly spawned other derivations of how the game can be played.

Sometimes the teams are allowed to reshape the cups to make them easier to throw the balls into.
2 Major Rules to Live By in BPONG:

“Sink cups”. No matter what version of the game you play, you’ll almost never win unless you know how to put balls into cups with precision. Again and again and again.”

Don’t let your parents win often. You spent their hard earned money to attend college and get good at this game. Maybe let Grandma win every so often so she thinks she still has it, but don’t make your parents start to doubt that they spent good money only to produce a subpar pong player.”

The game stands to get more complicated, and just as in playing games of cards, there are different names for the different challenges the game offers. There are names for the shots that it is possible to make with the balls. These names coincide with which game of the many in beer pong is being played.

Most experienced players of Beer Pong know that in order to win, besides skills, you need to come up with creative ways to distract your opponent, especially if they’re in the lead. Here are some creative techniques that both guys and girls alike can utilize to beat their opponent.

GUYS1) Awkward Stare
Nothing is more awkward and creepy to a female than a guy that seems as if he’s looking into the depths of her soul. By staring at a female opponent with that Friday the 13th look’, she’ll be trying to figure out what you’re thinking rather than making the shot.

2) Taking A Picture Of Your Opponent
Another great technique guys can use is the ‘taking a picture technique’. This is very effective because people are more self-conscious when they drink. They’ll be more concerned about not looking horrible on Facebook than aiming for the cups.

3) Confessions Time
Guys are expected to be very masculine and aggressive, by making a false confession that contradicts this belief you can effectively get into the mind of your opponent. Confessing something like “I still sleep with my teddy bear”, or saying something like “I miss doing ballet, it made me feel pretty inside and special” is a great way to get your opponent cracking up enough for them to lose all accuracy whatsoever. For added effects, ensure that you say it with a mean and aggressive stance.

GIRLS1) Fake out Session
Who doesn’t like to see two girls making out. In this case you will be doing what’s known as a ‘fake out.’ Simply grab another female from the crowd and hold your hand between you and the other females jaw to hide the fact that you’re not actually making out at all.

2) Time For A Selfie
This technique is based on the law of attraction. Guys are known to lose focus on whatever they’re doing and allocating that focus on a female whenever they take a selfie while within close proximity of them. So strike one of your most flirtatious poses and watch as the drool falls just like the ball will instead of going into the cups.

3) Twerk, Twerk, Twerk
Another creative way girls can distract their opponent is to twerk. Even if you don’t know how, your opponent won’t care, if you’re lucky he might just lose his balance trying to keep up with your moves. Warning! This may lead to your opponent asking you for your number after the game.

Many moves in beer pong can be described as “tricks”, such as the twirling 360 and the acrobatic Under the Leg, as well as the lazy blindfold. (“Look, Ma! No Eyes!”) But the finest beer pong tricks take more imagination. The best beer pong performances involve props–other objects other than ball and cup, intermediaries, if you will, in the communion between player and cup. In no particular order, here are the five best beer pong tricks:

Number 5: The Skipping Rock: Place at least two small tables between you and the cup. Gently toss the ball in a soft overhand arc, and watch the happy bouncing and sinking. Drink.

Number 4: The Tiger Woods: This is a variation on the Skipping Rock, except using a golf club. Use irons or wedges for maximum loft. Tee optional. Drink.

Number 3: The William Tell: Place a clipboard or similar object at a 45-degree angle on a chair. Stand ten feet across the room from the chair and place the cup on top of your head. Close your eyes and toss the ball with a zippy overhand arc. Wait for the ball to land in the cup. Drink.

Number 2: The Happy Camper: Find a triple-decker bunk bed. If you don’t have one in your dormitory, dive in the largest dumpsters in your neighborhood. Place the cup at one end of the lowest bunk, making sure that that the end of the bunk is flush with a wall. Stand at the other end of the bunk and energetically bounce the ball on the middle bunk and the bottom of the top bunk until it hits the wall and lands in the cup. Drink.

Number 1: The Traveling Punk: Place the cup on a skateboard. Place the skateboard at one end of a gauntlet of three clipboards or similar flat objects arranged on chairs. Gently push the skateboard so it sails down the middle of the gauntlet. Bounce the ball hard off the nearest clipboard at an angle so it hits the next clipboard and the next, bouncing off all three on its way to meeting the cup at the gauntlet’s end. Drink.

I hope you’re doing well. Rumor has it that a few weeks back, you told TMZ that “black people don’t play beer pong.” When informed by the TMZ reporter that Michael Jordan had just been photographed playing, you responded by adding “You think they got beer pong in the hood?”

Sigh. Let’s take it from the top, Chuckles.

I’m fairly certain Mr. Jordan doesn’t do much of anything “in the hood” unless you’re referring to his brand of footwear or his newest stripper girlfriend. Next, are you saying that all black people live in the hood? If so, that’s very stupid and very racist.

Just because many white people are good at golf and you’re not is no reason to get salty. Too personal? My bad. To be honest, I agree with you somewhat. Not that black people don’t play pong, but rather that YOU would be bad at it.

Don’t get me wrong. You do possess some behaviors that have been the hallmarks of some notorious pong players. You’re a compulsive gambler who likes to put tremendous amounts of money on terrible bets, similar to volunteering for cash games against Ross Hampton. You also like to drink a lot of alcohol and embarrass yourself. You got that .BAC up to .149 son! Even the cops pulling you over were impressed.

I don’t recall you hitting much of anything from a range of eight feet in your whole career, unless you count foul shots, which no one should.

Alright I lied. You were pretty good from the perimeter in your day. And the lack of any need for cardio in our sport would probably help you tremendously. But Chuckles, you are old. And irrelevant. The last time you were in college (the early 1980s) you were probably too busy getting “lunch money” from SEC boosters and drawling “War Eagle” to pay attention to the parties thrown by the little people where pong was prevalent.

Here’s the problem, Mr. Barkley. You are no more aware of what young people do these days than Martha Stewart, unless she learned how to cornrow and Snapchat when she was in the clink. That includes young black people. How dare you make a blanket statement about any race without one damn clue about what you’re talking about? Do the world a favor and shut the hell up, unless you’re drunk as usual commenting on a TNT basketball game (young people love that channel, it’s right up there with the Hallmark network).

Bottom line, black people do play beer pong. So do half black people. So do people who date black people. Your argument is flawed. Instead of defining what black people should not do, you should be encouraging their capabilities in all areas. Including beer pong. Your comments suggest a person’s “blackness” is taken away by doing something white people do. I don’t know if you recall, Sir Charles, but the very game that provided you with your fortune was once a majority, if not an all-white sport. How many people said the same things about black people and basketball back then? Just sayin’.

I understand that you were probably just speaking out of an ignorance of the beer pong world. Don’t worry, our community is inclusive and we are very tolerant. We’d love to extend an official invitation for you to come to Vegas and play in WSOBP IX (on us) so that we can show you what the game is really about as well as the diversity of the players within it. Mr. Barkley, the proverbial olive branch has been extended. Hopefully you’ll take us up on it. Maybe you can team up with Ryan Cabrera since he’s already registered?

And before anyone even thinks to question this article, rest assured it was written by a black beer ponger, with bonus points added for being a chick too.

Can you feel it? Are you ready? In less than seven weeks, hundreds of teams will descend upon Vegas, many with hangovers from the revelry of the night before. Right now, everyone has that tingle. Everyone is undefeated. Everyone can dream of that glorious moment when Billy shakes you and your partner’s hand and presents you with a giant check. Whether it’s your first World Series or your ninth, those butterflies are in your stomach and you can’t wait to find out what the pong gods will bring your way on January 1st.

But hold up. Do you really think you’re going to win WSOBP 9? The answer might very well be a “HELL YEAH!” The answer you’d give could also be “Of course not.” That’s the point. This game is for the so-called “pros” that travel across the country routinely to compete. This game is also for the husband and wife who are at the WSOBP as part of their New Year’s vacation. Or for the friends who haven’t seen each other in a while but used to run the plywood tables together in college. This game is for everyone. The enjoyment that is provided by the game we all love is evident in both victory and defeat. We’re all lucky to be able to experience it, especially on as grand a scale as the World Series of Beer Pong.

It’s true, however, that the only constant is change. This year, while the Center of the Beer Pong Universe will once again have a latitude and longitude that leads you to the familiar Flamingo Hotel, some things will be different. No beer in the cups this year. It’s a logistical nightmare, and takes way too much time and coordination by WSOBP staff. Time better served to make sure that dude mean mugging you doesn’t cross the plane while you’re shooting, or move past his side of the table to get in your face.

We’ve compiled a general list of reasons why we have decided to forego beer in the cups this year.

You may not see all the events you’re used to this year. You may see new ones you’ll come to love just as much, if not more.

All we ask is that you remain patient as we try to create the best experience possible while not over-extending the company’s future growth potential. Television deals, major cross promotion agreements, and bigger and better events are all within reach. We need our foundation to be rock solid as those next great steps are taken.

Organizers throughout the country have seriously stepped up. We have Skype tournaments, local satellite events and a multitude of weekly tournaments that continue to bring new players into the beer pong community. We’re encouraged by the continued growth of pong in new areas, and the veterans who are willing to provide guidance to the others willing to be tournament organizers. New initiatives like BPONG’s tournament software and national program structure will make it much easier for brackets to be run well, and run quickly.

Before you arrive in Vegas this year, take a minute to reflect on the work so many did before you (or with you) that has enabled a record ninth World Series of Beer Pong. It’s a significant achievement that can and should be appreciated by all. It’s up to every one of us to keep the game going. As a community, we want a 10th WSOBP and many more after that.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of playing beer pong for big money. With prize pools of $65,000 and $100,000 for the World Series of Beer Pong and the Masters of Beer Pong, respectively, there are some amazing opportunities to win some big money playing pong.

I may be in the minority, but I think that these big beer pong tournaments should be the exception, not the norm. Somewhere along the line, tournament organizers throughout the country decided that we needed big money tournaments and big money tournaments only. It’s as if someone decided that if we weren’t playing for at least $1,000, there’s no point.

I can understand why the top players want big money tournaments. They’ve got a chance to win. For someone like a Pop or a Kessler or a Ross Hampton, flying across the country for a weekend of pong is a sound investment. They’ve likely already won a bid, and whether they win or lose the big tournament, they’ll probably at least make enough to recoup their investment. But for others like myself, what’s the point?

When I first started playing beer pong, it wasn’t the money that attracted me to the game. I’m sure I’m not alone, because a lot of the players that started around the time that I did are still playing, too, and there wasn’t any money to be made back then. It was the community and the aspect of competition that drew us in and kept us engaged. Sure, we all get older and priorities and responsibilities change, but none of us picked up a pong ball for the first time with the hopes of cashing in for big money. We wanted to drink and have fun with our friends.

It seems that throughout the country, beer pong tournaments need to be a “Best Of” or take place in a ballroom to be worth our while. I’m tired of playing beer pong in the same ballrooms with the same overpriced drinks, stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to do.

I’ve been saying for years that tournament and league organizers need to cater to the new players, not the “elite” players to survive. Sure, $5,000 prize pools are awesome, but you’re also charging quadruple the entry fee plus travel expenses for multiple-day tournaments. The new, casual player isn’t going to make that investment, and if he does he will likely get throttled so badly in competition he won’t be coming back.

I can only speak for my local area, but at least in Maryland, it seemed that as the prize money increased over the last few years, the tournaments became fewer and fewer in between and the loyal players stopped coming. A big prize isn’t worth it to someone who knows they have no chance of winning. It’s no fun to come to a tournament and go 0-2.

Having more tournaments with less prize money is a win-win. More people get to play, and even if those top players decide that a $100 isn’t worth their time, the five casual teams that sign up knowing they have a better chance to have fun and win something will more than cover the cost of losing those top teams. Parity is rampant in professional sports because it works, beer pong is no different.

If you look at the beer pong communities that are thriving, it’s no surprise. Places like Lehigh Valley are attracting over 100 teams a week by having several small tournaments. They aren’t holding them in small hotel ballrooms, but in local bars, with local players, for modest cash prizes and drink specials. These are the players that are going to keep playing and become the next great players.

Four drinking straws together weigh .28 ounces. One and a half wooden pencils weigh .28 ounces. A plastic spoon and a plastic fork together weigh .28 ounces.

If you were playing an intense game of beer pong, would you be distracted by someone throwing drinking straws at themselves? Would you be distracted by someone hitting themselves in the head with a plastic spoon and fork? Probably not.

So, what’s your point, you ask? Well, a regulation BPONG plastic cup weighs .28 ounces. And for some strange reason, countless beer pong players have convinced themselves that taking a BPONG beer pong cup, smashing it against their own head and throwing the cup onto the ground is an amazing distraction technique. This folks, is why the media portrays beer pong players to be a community of alcoholic douchebags.

We are all adults. We may not act like it from time to time, but by definition we are adults. I would hope that we could get past certain childish thingslike smashing beer pong cups over our heads, but I’m not so confident that we can. Newsflash: We are not impressed.

Have you ever walked into the practice area at the World Series of Beer Pong, hoping to get a few shots in before your next round? You finally find an open table to play on, except all that’s left is a an empty rack and a few overturned cups on the table. You try and gather the cups that you can off the ground, finally find ten and then fill them up with water. Except most of the cups start leaking out because some tough guy thought they would impress someone by smashing the cups.

This is why we can’t have nice things, guys.

Do you ever wonder why some tournaments drag on and on and you can’t figure out why? Because half the tables don’t have enough cups or water left to play a game. You shouldn’t have to hunt and gather enough cups and water to play a game of beer pong in a tournament.

And let’s be honest. BPONG cups aren’t exactly expensive, but they aren’t cheap either. When you play at home do you smash cups and throw water around like a gorilla? No, you don’t. You probably use the same cups you have been using for the last couple of years. We’ve all been there. You wash a few dozen of your BPONG cups and then stack them up like a pyramid on the kitchen counter to dry out. Just because you are in Vegas or in some ballroom of whatever hotel agreed to hold a beer pong tournament, you should have a certain amount of respect.

I know it’s easy to get into the emotion of the moment after hitting or missing a big shot (I have more experience with the latter, personally) but enough is enough. People need to stop smashing cups, literally.

In football, if a player kicks or throws the ball away like a dickhead it’s a penalty. The same in basketball. In baseball, if a player throws his helmet like an asshole onto the field of play he’s likely going to get tossed. If you guys ever want beer pong to be taken seriously, smashing cups isn’t helping.

Time sure flies when you’re having fun. It seems like only yesterday we were crowning a new World Series of Beer Pong champion and handing out a giant check for $50,000. Now, we’re less than two months away from handing out an even larger check for the first ever Masters of Beer Pong champion. And there’s one question everyone keeps asking.

Who’s going to win it?whos-winning-masters

In beer pong time, two months is an eternity. There’s still way too much time for players to find partners, change plans, flake out at the last moment or backstab a good friend. We’ve come to expect these things from our close-knit beer pong community. I wouldn’t expect anything less. But, like the NFL “experts” who have spent the last few months posting mock drafts that made them look like idiots this past week, it’s still fun to guess how things will pan out.

Right now, is there a better player in the world than Ross Hampton?

The name should sound familiar if you have spent any time in the competitive beer pong circuits the past two years. Hampton won the prestigious World Series of Beer Pong VII singles title last year, and followed it up with an even more impressive victory, winning the World Series of Beer Pong VII doubles title. In the World Series of Beer Pong VIII, he was a part of the winning East vs. West tournament team, and then followed it up by winning the 2nd Annual Pongstars.net Spring Classic a few weeks ago. In between, he’s won dozens of other tournaments. Not a bad resume, and I’m sure I’m leaving some stuff out.

People love to debate who the best players are, and several can make a case as the world’s best. Players like Michael “Pop” Popielarski and Ron Hamilton are no stranger to taking home the big checks, and guys like Kevin Kessler, Brandon Marx and Nick Syrigos are also considered some of the world’s best. But in the “what have you won lately” world of competitive beer pong, it’s hard to top what Ross Hampton is doing.

It’s still early, but who’s your pick to win the first ever Masters of Beer Pong tournament. Be sure you register soon before entry fees go up. You won’t want to miss this one.

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of “organized” beer pong tournaments are now played with water in the cups, not beer. In the case of the World Series of Beer Pong, there’s a mixture of both water and beer cups on the table, although no player is required to drink beer. There’s a variety of reasons why organizers have adapted this practice, but mostly it’s because local laws and regulations restrict bars from playing with beer in cups.

Outsiders like to dismiss competitive beer pong because they see us playing with water cups and assume we aren’t drinking. While it’s few and far between when I actually have beer in my cups when I am playing, unless I am driving or it’s a work night I’m usually drinking while I play. And if I have a ride, I’m drinking a lot more. I know it’s childish to compare drinking abilities, but I’d take a Masters of Beer Pong participant over some YouTube troll any day of the week when it comes to drinking.

That said, do you play better buzzed, or sober?

The popular opinion is that the player who can manage to stay sober longer wins, but I disagree. I think it’s much harder to play sober or with minimal drinking. While I have played well and won tournaments without taking even a sip of beer, it’s no coincidence that normally, the deeper I go into a tournament the bigger my hangover will be the next day.

Playing beer pong well, for me, is finding a perfect balance between being too drunk and being sober. It’s the mental aspect of the game that separates the winners from the losers, not shooting percentages. A headcase who can go 10/10 in practice is usually going to miss a rebuttal shot if his mind isn’t right. Maybe it’s a sign of weakness, but I feel like having a few beers in my system allows me to calm down, keep the butterflies away, and shoot well regardless of the situation.

Some people like to get completely trashed before a tournament, and some people drink too much that they can’t hit the table by the end of the day. For me, the days are too long to get completely hammered first thing in the morning and try to make it through the night. But it works for some people, just not me.

For those who don’t drink, I’ve seen several times when players get called out deep into Day 3 for not drinking. It’s easy to talk shit from the railing. I think those guys deserve extra props. I couldn’t imagine playing a best-of-three series for $50,000 dead sober. My arms would be shaking worse than Michael J. Fox. If they can do it, good for them.

The biggest beer pong event in the history of the world just got a little bit better.

BPONG is proud to announce that Pabst Blue Ribbon will be the official beer sponsor of the first-ever Masters of Beer Pong tournament. As if a few days of summer sun in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, a $100,000 minimum prize pool and pool parties weren’t enough, there will be plenty of ice-cold Pabst Blue Ribbon to keep us hydrated. What else could one ask for?

Pabst Blue Ribbon is no stranger to the biggest beer pong tournaments in the world. You may recall the tasty lager at previous BPONG events, including the World Series of Beer Pong III, WSOBP IV, and this past WSOBP VIII. The only complaint the world’s best beer pong players have about PBR is when there isn’t enough.

The World Series of Beer Pong has come a long way since its first days in Mesquite. Although I did not attend my first WSOBP until WSOBP III, the horror stories about the Sin City beer live on to this day. Ask anyone who attended one of those first tournaments and you’re guaranteed to get a less-than-fond memory about the choice of beer.

It’s only fitting that that the biggest beer pong tournament known to man will serve an award-winning beer. PBR, after all, was selected as “America’s Best” beer at the World’s Columbian Exposition back in 1893, some 120 years ago. While a lot of things have changed in the world since then, America’s thirst for delicious beer has not. Pabst Blue Ribbon still stands tall among its peers.

I’m sure the announcement of PBR is just one of the many surprises Billy, Reed and company have in store for us in July. If this doesn’t convince you to sign up for the MOBP, I don’t know what will. It’s not going to get any cheaper, so what are you waiting for?